


Tales of Tails

by EvenescentTranquility



Series: One Piece AUs (The First Set) [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Ace Lives, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, F/M, Knotting, M/M, Multi, Werewolf Mates, Werewolf Sex, Werewolves, one piece alternate universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-09-26 00:20:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 44,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9853406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvenescentTranquility/pseuds/EvenescentTranquility
Summary: A One Piece Werewolf AUYour simple life is turned upside-down when you accidentally bring a werewolf home from the local animal shelter.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note this work will contain explicit Werewolf sex including knotting! It will also be a triad pairing, with Marco x Ace x Reader. If you don't like that then please don't read it. I will try to make note of when explicit scenes start and end, so that you can skip over them if you like. 
> 
> One Piece belongs to Oda, but the story belongs to me :)

“Are you sure you’re going to be alright here by yourself?” your best friend Kaya asked nervously glancing around the small condo.

“I’ll be fine,” you assured her for what felt like the thousandth time, though you couldn’t blame her for her worry, the neighborhood you’d moved into was a little sketchy, but it was the best you could afford. You couldn’t all be rich heiresses like Kaya.

“You could always stay with us longer, mom and dad like you a lot, they wouldn’t mind,” Kaya tried again.

“I appreciate the offer,” you told her hiding a grimace. It wasn’t that you didn’t like Kaya or her parents, but staying with them made you feel like a leech. It was about time you made your own way in the world, “But I think I’m going to like it here. I can’t just live with you forever you know?”

Kaya pouted at you, which you couldn’t help but find adorable, you and Kaya had been close since preschool when you’d jumped on then bitten a little boy on the arm for knocking her down on the playground. You’d been inseparable ever since, and you thought of her like a little sister.

Admittedly you were the same age, but Kaya just seemed so much more fragile to you, like she needed to be protected, which of course you were more than happy to do for her. You were more than a bit maternal and protective by nature and it was good to have somebody to protect, it gave you purpose.

“You could always just stay for a little bit, just until you can find somewhere better than… well… this,” she pleaded, wrinkling her nose at the slightly shabby walls and second hand furniture.

“I like it,” you told her, and you did, it felt comfortable, maybe it needed a few things to spruce it up a little and add some color, but it felt lived in. Kaya’s house always made you afraid to touch things in case you got dirt on it or broke something expensive, “Besides, with what I had saved up I managed to buy it outright, that means I can do some fixing up, a fresh coat of paint and some new flooring will work wonders.”

“Changing how it looks won’t change where it is, this part of the city isn’t safe,” Kaya argued frowning at you.

“So I’ll reinforce the locks on the doors and windows,” you told her with a shrug, “and keep my baseball bat handy. Really Kaya you fuss too much.”

“I’m just worried about you!” Kaya protested unhappily, “What if something happens? You’re here all alone! I know you’re tough and can protect yourself I just wish you had some kind of back-up, so you weren’t by yourself.”

“What like a room mate? Did that in college, and it sucked, dirty dishes, unwashed laundry, and getting kicked out so they can have alone time with their significant other? Yeah I’ll pass,” you told her wrinkling your nose unhappily.

“I wasn’t thinking about a room mate, you never know what you’re going to get with that,” Kaya retorted with a sniff, for all that she was a very kind girl she could be a bit stuck-up at times, her upbringing as an heiress shining through, “No I was thinking more along the lines of a pet.”

“A pet?” you asked curiously. It actually wasn’t a bad suggestion.

“A dog more specifically,” Kaya elaborated with a smile, “You’ve always liked animals, and they tend to like you too if I’m remembering correctly.”

She was right you were an animal lover, and you’d always had a soft spot for dogs, usually the bigger and scarier looking the better. They tended to like you too, though you weren’t exactly sure why. At times you’d been approached by the meanest, fiercest dogs in the neighborhood, ones known for lashing out or biting, and they would prance around like harmless happy puppies for you, all wagging tails and slobbery kisses.

Kaya had on more than one occasion asked if you were a dog whisperer. You just shrugged her off, not particularly believing in such things after all, it’s not like you could actually understand what a dog was thinking, you just had a vague instinct of how they were feeling based on body language.

“I’ll think about it,” you told Kaya with a smile.

Kaya beamed, “I’ll start looking into breeders in the area right away!”

You just shook your head in amusement and let her go, knowing there was no way to talk her out of it, still though, “I didn’t actually agree I said I’d think about it and if I did get one I would probably want a mutt from a shelter.”

Kaya pouted again and you knew you had another argument on your hands, still it was something to think over as the two of you carefully finished the unpacking and ran to a nearby hardware store for supplies.

By the time she left for dinner she’d talked you around to the dog, but you’d compromised that it could come from a shelter. With plans to go pick out one tomorrow you fell into your bed with a tired sigh, imagining different dogs, with the sounds of barking and howling echoing through your dreams.

…~*oO0Oo*~…

The racket at the shelter was terrible, as a worker led you into the back where the dogs were kept. Several large dogs jumped eagerly against the fences penning them in, trying to catch your attention as happy barks and yips echoed around the concrete walls.

Walking slowly down the aisle you paused to read information and stick your fingers through the bars of the enclosures, receiving happy licks as you doled out pets and scratches to the eager animals, accepting treats from the worker and handing those out as well to the enthusiastic pups.

Almost every single one had come to the front of their enclosures to greet you, all but one. The dog was in the last enclosure on the right, with its nose in the corner, thus you couldn’t see much of it, but what you could see was absolutely massive. 

It was at least the size of a St. Bernard with long, what looked like black fur though it was hard to tell with the amount of dirt and grime caked in it, but you knew it wasn’t a Bernard based on the ears, which stood at attention like a Husky’s, flickering every so often with the noise in the kennel. Glancing at the info card you noted it was a he, and he wasn’t at all friendly, in fact the card actually advised against any and all interaction.

“Best to leave that one alone miss, he’s a hostile beast, we think he’s at least part wolf and he won’t let anyone near him. Had to tranq him to get him vaccinated,” the shelter worker told you nervously.

“And you couldn’t give the poor thing a bath while he was out?” you asked unable to help the sharp tone on seeing the poor condition of the animal.

“Look miss, it was all we could do to get him vaccinated, the tranquilizer only kept him out for fifteen minutes, we were supposed to have an hour. It took everyone to even just get him corralled back into that enclosure, I even have marks to show for it,” he bit back shoving up his sleeves so you could see his bandaged forearms, liberally covered with scratch marks.

“He didn’t bite you then?” you asked interested.

“Naw, he didn’t manage to catch any of us with his chompers, but I pity the poor fool that gets bitten by a beast like him,” the worker told you seriously with a shiver.

“You don’t like him then?” you pushed eyes on the dog.

“Not a bit miss. He’s a monster that one, we’re generally a no kill shelter, but the boss is thinking we’re going to have to put him down, and I agree he’s way to hostile for adoption,” the worker told you firmly, “He just went out to finish getting someone who can fire a tranquilizer gun at him since no one feels safe enough to get up close and personal.

The bunching of muscle gave you the indication of what was going to happen before it did, as the dog whirled from the corner and launched himself at the door to the enclosure, making the whole thing rattle dangerously and bending the metal fencing out of shape, ferocious jaws snapped close to your face as he growled and snarled furiously.

It was only this intuition into his movements and instinct that let you hold your ground even as the worker stumbled away with a squeak, falling back on his ass and then scrambling away and running down the hall shouting for help, completely abandoning you.

You watched as the dog’s eyes followed the worker down the hall, a strange look on his face that had he been human you would’ve almost described as smug. Now that he was facing you, you could see why they thought he was part wolf. Hell, if you weren’t sure wolves didn’t actually get that big you’d think that was all he was. You were pretty sure wolves were supposed to be two hundred pounds max, and this fellow certainly looked over two hundred pounds. Standing on his hind legs he actually dwarfed your 5’8” frame by at least a foot, his front paws resting at around shoulder height for you.

The color of his eyes was really interesting too, unlike anything you’d ever seen before, the color of molten silver, and filled with intelligence and suddenly trained right on you.

“Well hello there handsome,” you acknowledged keeping your voice even and calm, knowing dogs could pick up on such things easily. Slowly you held out your hands palms forward toward his face so he could catch your scent. His lips curled back aggressively at your movement and you held still and waited, not looking away from those molten silver eyes, knowing to do so would be submitting to him, which was an extremely bad idea.

“It’s alright,” you crooned softly, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

The dog/wolf whuffed and you wondered if he was amused by the idea of a puny human like you being able to hurt him, before pushing the thought aside and watching as he slowly eased down to the ground of his enclosure. Even on all four paws he still looked enormous, his head coming even with your sternum.

Not wanting him to think you were looming over him you slowly lowered yourself into a crouch so that the two of you were closer to eye level, offering your palms again. This time he did sniff them, though he kept his eyes locked with yours.

“There, that’s not so bad right handsome?” you asked gently, “You really are a gorgeous fellow aren’t you?”

To your surprise the dog glanced away, head turning to the side. In a human that would be embarrassment, but in a dog such movements were submission. Slowly you reached forward and gently touched the bars of the enclosure close to where he was.

The noise had him looking back swiftly his eyes locking on your fingers and then on you, but he made no aggressive move against it. Glancing at the door to his enclosure you slowly eased out of your crouch and made your way over to it. This was probably the worst idea you’d ever had in your entire life, but you’d never seen such a magnificent animal before, and it would be a shame to see him put down.

You could feel his eyes on you as you slowly eased the door open, heart pounding and slipped inside, locking it firmly behind you. That done you moved over to the wall and slowly slid down to a sitting position, crossing your legs and waiting. The dog watched for a few seconds and you wondered if he, like you, were wondering if you’d totally lost it.

“Come here handsome,” you coaxed, carefully extending a hand and gesturing. Several long minutes passed as he just stared at you, eyeing you thoroughly before slowly taking several steps forward.

You waited patiently for him to come to you, and in no time he was standing in front of you, towering over your sitting form staring you down. You held his gaze fearlessly and watched, keeping your body language as relaxed as possible as the shaggy head of the dog lowered so you were literally eye-to-eye.

There was a surprising amount of intelligence in those mercurial eyes, and for a moment you could swear they were almost human, before the head lowered further and you felt him sniff you thoroughly, his powerful jaws right near your vulnerable neck, and against your will you felt your heart race.

Still he didn’t do anything more than sniff you and taking that as encouragement you slowly lifted a hand, experimentally touching his side. He stiffened for a moment, but you gently smoothed your hand along muttering soft encouraging phrases to him.

“You poor thing, you really do need a bath and someone to look after you properly huh?” you asked gently lifting your other hand to gently caress his fur.

He whuffled and you nearly jumped out of your skin as he licked a long stripe up your neck. You made a face at the sounds he made after, soft chuffing noises that sounded like amused laughter to your ears.

“Very funny mister,” you told him with a pout tangling your fingers in his fur and nuzzling your face into his, encouraged by his nonaggressive behavior, “Now is that you saying you like me or you trying to see if I’d taste good for dinner?”

He chuffed again and accepted your gesture of affection, this time licking your cheek, “I’m going to take that as you like me, and not ‘you taste like chicken’.”

You jumped as his wet cold nose found your ear and his breath ruffled your hair, and winced slightly, “Poor baby, you really need a bath handsome, and a toothbrush.”

The dog huffed, and you could almost imagine he seemed indignant so you ran your hands over him reassuringly, “Not your fault huh love? The awful people here weren’t very nice to you were they?”

Your bonding was interrupted by the sound of running feet and shouting, 

“Oh my god he’s got her!” 

“Get away monster!” 

“Someone tranquilize him quick!”

“Forget tranqs, kill it!”

The dog quickly stiffened and began to growl, and you peered out from around his bulk to see the cowardly worker from before had apparently brought reinforcements, who were leveling a gun at the dog. Who was snarling ferociously, all the other dogs in the enclosures were only adding to the racket, howling and barking and snarling. The sound was nearly deafening.

“Wait!” you shouted angrily at the shelter workers trying desperately to work your way around the dog’s enormous bulk and be heard over the cacophony of noise.

Only they couldn’t hear, and the dog was standing between you and them, almost protectively, but making it impossible for you to see and be seen. You finally scrambled to your knees and were able to peer over the dog just in time to see a dart sink into his side.

He swayed woozily but stayed on his feet snarling aggressively, and you could see them loading another dart, completely uncaring that overloading the dog with tranqs might just kill him. You shouted in horror, trying to get them to stop, but your voice just added to the confusion and the noise.

You saw him raise the gun and you tried to do something anything to push the magnificent creature away, to protect him, to do something, but he refused to move from in front of you, not even to lunge at the workers to attack or make a bid for freedom.

You saw the man begin to pull the trigger, and you felt your heart squeezing in your chest. You couldn’t just let them kill this amazing animal, you wouldn’t let them hurt it anymore.

_“DON’T YOU DARE!”_ the command was practically howled, fueled by your anger and desperation, you could practically feel it explode out of you and suddenly everything was quiet.

The dog in front of you swayed and turned to look at you with sad confused eyes a piteous whine leaving his throat as he stared at you with that unnerving humanlike gaze.

“Not you love, never you,” you instantly reassured him, reaching up and pulling him to you. As unsteady as he was on his feet he instantly fell into you, knocking you into the wall, and stealing the breath from your lungs. It didn’t stop your from wrapping your arms around as much of him as you could reach.

It enabled you to see over his neck finally, and allowed the shelter employees to see you at last.

“Miss you need to get away from him right now,” one of them told her earnestly, “That beast will take your head off!”

“He won’t,” you defended fiercely tangling your fingers in his fur and holding him to you protectively, “All he’s done since I’ve been in here is lick my face, not once has he tried to hurt me. I don’t have a scratch on me.”

“You’re crazy! He was trying to maul you earlier,” the worker who’d shown you the way earlier informed you flatly.

“He wasn’t!” you replied angrily, gently unwrapping your arms from the dog you moved so you could look at him face to face. He was looking back at you a bit blearily, but you could see he was coming around from the dart. Completely unafraid you reached out and took hold of his face nuzzling yours against it affectionately.

You completely ignored the worried cries, and protests that he would “bite your face off” just waiting until his eyes focused properly on you and he licked your cheek affectionately.

“There’s my handsome man,” you crooned softly tenderly running your fingers through his fur, ruffling his ears and stroking his cheeks affectionately.

“I don’t understand, he hated you,” the worker from before said dazedly.

The dog’s head whipped around and a fierce growl left his throat glaring at the worker who had spoken. Completely confident in your safety you wrapped your arms around his neck and glared at him as well, “Seems like it’s not me he hates.”

“Still miss, that beast is proven to be violent, it really needs to be put down,” one of the other workers insisted.

“Does this look violent to you?” you demanded frustrated running your hands over him gently trying to soothe him even as you got more and more agitated, “It’s starting to look to me like you just don’t know how to handle a dog like this, which is fine because I’ll be taking him with me.”

“Miss you can’t just…” another worker protested, “I can and I will, he’s not going to hurt me and so long as you stay far away I think I’m more than capable of keeping him from hurting you as well. It’s obvious he likes me more than anyone else here, so he’s best off with me.”

“Is that alright with you love? I’ll get you out of here okay?” you crooned at the dog who’s eyes were clear again and regarding you with clear interest. A soft chuffing noise was your answer, which you took as agreement. 

“Alright someone get me my paperwork,” you ordered, “I’m taking him home today.”

…~*oO0Oo*~…

Newly clean and smelling like a combination of wet dog and herbal shampoo Portgas D. Ace watched the woman who’d taken him out of the animal shelter and into her home.

He wasn’t entirely sure how he had ended up at the shelter in the first place, but he got the feeling it was supposed to be payback for a prank probably by one of his brothers. The timing fit anyway because the only time they really got drunk and ran around in wolf form was on the full moon and that had been yesterday.

He was appalled to have woken up in a kennel of sorts and had still been hungover from the booze, which was why he’d been more violent with the shelter workers than he probably should have been. In his defense he had at least refrained from doing any serious damage, and hadn’t bitten anyone. It didn’t help that while in canine form Weres tended to be more ruled by their instincts, and none of the shelter workers had approached the way they should have.

He really hadn’t appreciated being stabbed in the ass with a tranquilizer either and had taken out his displeasure on them when he woke up. After that he’d been sulking in a corner thinking about how much his brothers were going to tease him about his situation and plotting his escape for later that night. His thoughts had been interrupted by the arrival of someone new.

The rest of the dogs in the kennel, who knew what he was and respected him as alpha, had immediately become extremely excited, bouncing all over the place like hyper puppies, their eager greetings making the noise level almost unbearable, especially since the headache from his hangover had never really receded no thanks to those tranquilizers.

He’d been doing his best to ignore them, blocking them out to the best of his ability when the annoying voice of one of the workers from this morning penetrated his bubble, apparently telling the newcomer what a vicious, dangerous brute he was, and complaining about some measly scratches. Served the ass right for being part of the team to capture him, and for bugging him when he was so hung over.

Still listening to him whine was getting on his nerves, and he was starting to get really bored just staring at the corner. Everyone who knew him would tell you that a bored Ace is a mischievous Ace. Taking everything that the worker was saying in, Ace chose his moment and lunged.

He had a brief moment of panic as the metal frame of his enclosure gave way slightly under his paws and he wondered if he’d tumble through tail over snout, which would be really embarrassing. Luckily it held out and he snarled and snapped playfully eyes locked on the worker, laughing to himself as the man ran screaming like a baby out of the kennel area.

He was surprised that he wasn’t followed by the newcomer and turned his gaze on to her. She was fairly small by his standards, even in human form he would’ve had at least six inches on her but decent size for a human, about 5’ 8” with ample curves, clothed in practical jeans and a black v-neck t-shirt.

She had chestnut colored hair held back in a ponytail, with short bangs clipped out of her face with a couple of fancy clips, her skin was tanned, as if she spent a lot of time outdoors, her lips were full and a nice soft pink, her cheekbones were sharp and defined in a way that might’ve been unattractive if not for the luminous eyes that they helped to frame. Ace had never seen eyes like those, a vivid color that seemed to shift between blue and green and back again.

There was something fierce about her face that reminded him of an amazon warrior. This one was a fighter for sure, and apparently not afraid enough to back down even if he could hear her heart racing in her chest from the scare he’d just given her.

He’d half expected her to just up and leave, though in a far more dignified way than the shelter worker, but she had stayed, and approached. It was hard to tell with the other smells of the shelter in the confined area being so strong, but something about her smelled intriguing. Enough that he allowed her to enter his temporary prison without issue.

It helped that she made all the right moves, never too dominant or too submissive, letting him come to her. Even if he had actually been a dog he probably would’ve warmed up to her, as it was he was a werewolf with absolutely no desire to hurt humans, especially pretty girls, and certainly not pretty girls who acted so strangely whose brief whiff of scent had piqued his curiosity.

So he approached her, trying his best not to make her uncomfortable and doing everything he could to ignore when she called him handsome, sweet or love, because while it should’ve been humiliating it was instead more embarrassing. He would’ve been flushing badly if he was in human form from her compliments.

He’d been surprised when she reached for him, but decided it couldn’t hurt anything and let her as he breathed in her scent. Up close like this, close to her skin near the glands of her neck, it was strong enough to overpower the stench of the shelter, and it was intoxicating. He wasn’t sure what exactly he could liken it too, all he knew was that it was good, and he would’ve happily spent hours just breathing in her scent.

Interested to see if she tasted as good as she smelled he’d licked her, and been amused by her witty commentary, because despite what folklore may say werewolves didn’t actually eat human flesh. The very thought was appalling, sure he was extremely fond of meat, perhaps even overly fond, but that didn’t mean human flesh sounded at all appealing.

Seeking to reassure her, since he could hear her heartbeat racing, he’d carefully licked her cheek. Noting she did taste nice, not at all edible, but still nice somehow.

Admittedly he’d been a bit offended when she said he needed a bath and a toothbrush. Sure she was right, but what did she expect? He’d spent the night before drunkenly romping through the woods with his brothers, it was practically a given that the next day he’d need a nice long shower and to brush his teeth.

But it hadn’t been enough to make him move away surprisingly comfortable with letting her into his personal space, which was highly unusual for him. The number of people he let into his bubble without issue could be counted on two hands with fingers left over. The fact that he’d allowed a stranger to do it was unprecedented.

He’d still been caught up in her smell and his thoughts when the shelter workers had rushed in and assumed he was attacking her, which was ridiculous, as it was patently obvious she had entered his cage of her own volition. Something no sane person would do with a dog who was behaving aggressively towards them, although he did have a few worries about her sanity.

What happened after was a bit of a blur no thanks to the tranquilizer dart someone had fired into his ass again. What he did remember though was that his first instinct had been to protect her, getting between her and the potentially trigger happy workers.

He also remembered the Voice. He could still hear the words “Don’t you dare” echo through the confines of the dog enclosure. The only time he could ever remember being hit by a Voice that strong was when he’d faced off with his Pops. It was a Voice only alpha werewolves were supposed to have, one that enabled them to take control of and direct the members of their pack.

Ace himself had the Voice, but rarely used it, disliking the fact that he knew it was something he’d inherited from his father. Other than himself and his Pops he only knew a handful of others who could use it, and all of them were alphas and werewolves, none of them were tiny human girls.

If his interest hadn’t already been piqued that would’ve done it, the fact that even he, a strong alpha in his own right, had wanted to submit to her afterwards made her impossibly strong.

He’d had his third shock of the day when the strange woman had defended him from the workers, refusing to let them hurt him. He had to conclude that she must really like dogs in order to champion him against all those people, and he’d been touched by her kindness.

All these reasons meant he hadn’t bolted the minute she’d gotten him out of the shelter, instead calmly hopping up into her SUV and letting her drive him, first to the pet store and then to her home. Of course if he’d known the indignity that followed was going to occur he might’ve bolted.

Instead in order to maintain his cover as a dog he’d been forced to let her bathe him and brush his teeth. Luckily the toothpaste didn’t taste awful, but having it done for him was humiliating and he didn’t even want to touch on the bath. In revenge he’d made sure to shake himself thoroughly, throwing water all over the bathroom and drenching the woman as often as he could. By the end of it her clothes and hair were soaked, and he felt very much vindicated despite the annoyed looks she kept throwing him.

Sensibly as wet as she was, she’d decided to simply take a shower herself, after sending him out to the bedroom. He’d settled on to the bed, intending to think more on the strange woman, but his narcolepsy had attacked with a vengeance and he’d found himself sleeping until she returned to the room.

He’d woken to the sound of the bathroom door opening, and had absolutely no time to brace himself as the woman walked into the room in only a towel. The shock of it had kept him from reacting until she’d walked over to the dresser, and he remembered to shut his eyes, but not before he’d gotten a nice view of her naked backside.

He had been positively mortified, and if he’d been human, would’ve been blushing so badly he’d look like a lobster. He’d refused to even consider opening his eyes until the bed dipped beside him, leaving him where he was now, staring up into the eyes of the woman who’d taken him home.

She was gazing back her eyes locked with his having flopped over and arranged herself so they were face to face. Hands reached out and Ace held very still as she gently ran her fingers over his cheeks rubbing soft circles on them. He had to fight to hold still and not jerk his face from her grasp in embarrassment.

“You know I realized that I haven’t given you a name yet handsome,” she informed him softly, “I spent a lot of time thinking about it in the shower, but I’m having trouble.”

“I went through all the traditional names, for black dogs like Jett, and Shadow and I just,” she made a face and Ace chuffed in agreement, no way would he ever respond to something that lame.

“I tried normal names too like Rover, Fang, and Spike, and outlandish things like Kage and Inuyasha, but those don’t really fit either,” she informed him moving her hands to play with his silky ears gently scratching them in a way that made his back leg want to shake in pleasure, though he fought the embarrassing gesture with all his might.

“I can’t seem to come up with anything, so until I do I think I’m going to call you freckles,” she told him firmly.

She must’ve seen the flat unimpressed look on his face because she hurried on to explain, “I know it’s not the most masculine name in the world, but after I washed you I realized you have these tiny white spots on your muzzle that look just like freckles, it’s adorable.”

Ace let forth an unintentional whine of protest. If his brothers ever found out about him being called Freckles, of all things he’d never hear the end of it.

“Don’t worry love, it’s just until I can find you something more appropriate,” she eyes him speculatively, “You know you’re awfully smart for a dog, I’m starting to wonder if you understand everything I say to you.”

Ace panicked, he couldn’t help it, humans were definitely not supposed to find out about Weres not unless they’d been turned or had agreed to be turned. He would deny for the rest of his life what he did next…

…~*oO0Oo*~…

You stared blankly at the dog you’d started to think was more human than you’d thought, who was currently in the process of licking himself. 

“Or not,” you said flatly, face-palming at your own paranoia, “Guess I’m reading to much into things huh love?”

You gently patted his flank and left him to his business, heading for the kitchen to get dinner started, not noticing the absolute relief plain to see on the face of the dog behind you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Also special thanks to my beta reader (who's also my sister)) for reading through all my stuff and letting me bounce ideas off you. You Rock!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One Piece belongs to Oda but this story belongs to me :)

You fought a smile as your new dog sat by your feet watching you cook with a deep sort of intensity on his face. His nose was twitching, and every so often when you turned to look at him, his tail would wag, just the tiniest bit. If he was human, you would’ve bet he would’ve been drooling, as it was you could see him licking his chops out of the corner of your eye.

You couldn’t blame him though. It did smell pretty good. You liked to think you were a pretty good cook, having been fending for yourself since you were fourteen years old. It helped that Kaya’s cook Ms. Potts had been happy to give you plenty of tips and recipes to you over the years.

Right now you were making chicken fajitas, enough that you would hopefully have plenty left over for both lunch and dinner tomorrow. The fact of the matter was, cooking for a single person was really hard, and you preferred to make large meals ahead of time so you wouldn’t have to worry about cooking later in the week.

Expertly you tossed the pan, allowing the vegetables and chicken you were sautéing to flip over so it would all cook evenly, keeping up the well practiced motion as you hummed along to a song on the radio, occasionally allowing lyrics of the songs you knew well to pass your lips.

When everything was done you moved your operation to the counter only to hear a soft whining noise. Glancing down you saw your dog staring at the fajita filling with the most pathetic, adorable look on his face that you’d ever seen.

“You’re so freaking cute!” you told the dog happily putting the pan down and kneeling on the floor to throw your arms around his neck, rubbing your face against his, “Yes you are, yes you are!”

Freckles licked your cheek and then whined again, staring at you pleadingly, and you sighed, “Hungry huh? Alright then love we’ll get you something to eat.”

These were apparently the magic words, as the enormous dog perked right up, practically prancing as you went to the bags you’d picked up earlier from the pet store, pulling out the enormous bowl you’d gotten for him. Then proceeded to fill it with the brand name food you’d gotten for him, it was the expensive organic stuff, nothing but the best for your new baby.

The dog stared at you, waiting, and you gestured to the bowl, “There you are boy, all yours.”

Slowly he moved over to it and gave it an experimental sniff, before jerking back, and turning to you with the most appalled and disgusted face you’d ever seen on a dog. Frankly you had to fight the urge to laugh. You’d never seen a dog as expressive as this one before.

“Come on Freckles it can’t be that bad can it?” you asked coaxingly.

In answer he pushed the bowl towards you, as if telling you to eat it instead, and you just shook your head, amused and resigned, “Alright I get it, you don’t like it, we’ll return it to the pet store tomorrow and try something else, but what the hell am I going to feed you in the mean time?”

Stepping over to your fridge you rummaged around until you found a carton of eggs, and nodded to yourself. You’d never known a dog who would turn down freshly made scrambled eggs. Setting a new pan on the burner you quickly cracked the eggs in, and added some milk to give it a little more body, and a few pinches of salt for flavor, before shaking your head over fussing so much over food for your pet. In your experience dogs didn’t care either way, food was food to them, especially if the food was people food and not actually meant for canine consumption.

Luckily scrambled eggs didn’t take long, and you managed to get them done quickly, setting them to the side to cool as you wrapped up the fajita filling into tortilla shells. Done with that you put a couple on your plate and left the rest on the counter, before fetching Freckles’ bowl, emptying it of dog food and giving him the scrambled eggs in its place.

To your relief he happily set upon the scrambled eggs, as you set yourself down to eat your own dinner. You grinned amused as the dog chased his dish across the tile floor, the force of his tongue pushing the dish forward and forcing him to move after it if he wanted to keep eating lapping up every last bit of the eggs. However you weren’t nearly as amused when he turned beseeching silver eyes on you once he finished.

“Oh no,” you told him firmly, “That was a dozen eggs doggy! That was more than enough, even for a fella as big as you. Besides those were the last of my eggs, even if I wanted to make you more I couldn’t, not without running to the store first, and that’s not happening. I was already there once today before going to the shelter. If you want more you’ll eat your dog food.”

Your little speech didn’t deter him at all, and he continued to watch you pathetically as you finished almost all of the fajita on your plate. Feeling like the world’s biggest sucker, you knelt down and offered the last of it to him. He yipped happily and quickly set about cleaning the plate off as you shook your head in amusement, gently ruffling his silky ears.

The sound of the doorbell interrupted your self-recriminations about giving in to the dog, and the pep talk you were trying to give yourself about not spoiling him and caving to his every whim. 

You stood and moved to answer without even bothering to check the peephole. You already knew who would be standing on the other side of the door. After all you’d made plans to meet up today.

“Kaya!” you greeted with a bright smile, “Come in, come in!”

“Well did you get a dog?” she asked eagerly. She’d actually wanted to come with you today to the shelter, but had, had to cancel last minute because her dad was taking her to an important business meeting instead.

You had understood, after all she was going to be taking over the company eventually, she had to get used to things like this. Plus you were a bit relieved too, who knows how the visit to the shelter would’ve gone if she’d come too. She honestly did love animals, but not in the way you did.

She definitely would never have let you get into the cage with Freckles, let alone take him home, though she probably would have had a great deal to say about the incompetence and cruelty of the shelter workers. Especially the coward who’d abandoned her when it looked like the enormous dog might break free of his enclosure and attack them.

“I did,” you told her with a bright grin, “I haven’t decided on a name yet, but I’ve been calling him Freckles temporarily. He’s got the most adorable white spots on his muzzle and…”

“So where is he?” Kaya asked cutting off your rant, knowing you could go on and on about the adorable features of your new pet if she let you.

You glanced around with a frown, “That’s strange, as much as he disliked some of the shelter workers I’m surprised he didn’t follow me in here.”

Still frowning you made your way to the kitchen and instantly spotted your new pet, his forepaws on the counter, his face buried in the plate you’d left there, eagerly devouring the fajitas you’d hoped to have tomorrow.

“No!” you exclaimed immediately, “Bad dog! Get down from there!”

The big black dog immediately dropped down from the counter and turned to you, tail wagging happily, a content look on his face, until he saw the fierce frown on your face. “Seriously Freckles? Those were supposed to be for me for lunch tomorrow! Now what am I going to eat? You’d already had your dinner you big glutton!”

The tail immediately drooped unhappily and the ears went back, a soft sad whine escaping his throat. You tried to keep your stern posture and unhappy frown, but he was looking so guilty and sad. Plus who knew how long it had been since he’d last eaten a proper meal. If the shelter workers had been too afraid to enter his enclosure they were probably to afraid to try to feed him.

“Gah! Alright I forgive you! Stop looking at me like that okay?” you pleaded dropping down to give him a hug, running your fingers through his shaggy fur, “Just don’t do it again okay? I have to eat too you know.”

He huffed a soft agreement and nosed your cheek affectionately, provoking a soft giggle.

“Geez (name) you haven’t even had him a day, and he’s turned you into putty in his paws,” Kaya sighed with fond exasperation.

The dog startled and glanced up at her, a wary growl slipping past his lips as he finally registered her presence, nudging you away, trying to get between the two of you.

“No!” you said more firmly than you had with the food, causing him to look at you in surprise, “There will be absolutely no growling at Kaya. She’s my best friend and she’s going to be here a lot, so you’d best play nice.”

Your new pet stopped growling but didn’t make a move towards your friend either, staying glued to your side.

“Are you sure that’s a dog (name)?” Kaya asked a bit warily, “He looks more like a bear or a wolf to me, and he doesn’t seem very friendly.”

“He’s a dog,” you said defensively hugging him closer to you and rubbing your face into his fur, “A very sweet, very protective dog. He just wasn’t treated very well at the shelter, and I think that makes him nervous around strangers, and you know me and dogs, he would never hurt me.”

As if to emphasize your point the big dog licked your cheek affectionately, putting his big head on your shoulder and watching your friend with wary silver eyes, “They were trying to kill him when I was there, calling him all sorts of terrible names and using tranquilizer guns on him.”

Kaya immediately relaxed, she had a big soft spot when it came to injured or abused animals, “Alright (name) I believe you, and I know he won’t hurt you at least, though you should probably be wary about introducing him to people if you think he’s going to be aggressive.”

“I know, I’ll be careful,” you assured her giving the dog one last affectionate rub before climbing to your feet, “With his previous record on file in that animal shelter I have to make absolutely sure he doesn’t attack anyone or they’ll definitely take the decision to put him down out of my hands. Plus I don’t want any innocent people getting hurt either.”

Kaya nodded in satisfaction, “So tell me about this shelter then.”

You nodded and the two of you moved into the living room, with Freckles on your heels, and you immediately collapsed on to the couch with Kaya taking a prim seat in the chair opposite yours.

Carefully you explained everything that had happened at the shelter to her, editing a bit so she hopefully wouldn’t lecture about your reckless behavior. As you talked you watched from the corner of your eye as Freckles slowly inched his way closer to Kaya, apparently trying to be discreet.

He got close enough to give her hand a thorough sniff, from where it was resting on the arm of the chair, all without Kaya noticing, much to your amusement. Apparently satisfied he made his way back up to the couch, and climbed up, carefully settling himself so that his head was in your lap. You smiled down at him affectionately and began to pet hid head, rubbing your hands over his silky ears watching as his eyes closed in contentment as you continued to tell your story. By the end of it Kaya looked thunderous.

“I can’t believe that coward just left you there! What if the dog had actually been aggressive to you? What if he escaped the cage? You could’ve been mauled and there would’ve been no one around to help you!” Kaya said outraged on your behalf.

“It’s fine Kaya,” you soothed fondly, “I’m fine and so is my Freckles.”

“It’s not fine! The manager of that shelter and I will be having words I tell you!” Kaya shouted indignantly.

You just giggled and shook your head at her protectiveness. Kaya was a sweetheart, and had grown much stronger in the years you’d known her. She used to be so frail, and shy looking as if a stiff wind might just bowl her over. It had made you really protective of your new friend for a while. Eventually though between you and her parents she’d managed to grow a backbone and become a stronger much more confident young woman. 

The two of you continued to talk, about your days, and how the meeting had gone, and eventually you got Kaya’s rage settled, though you wouldn’t be surprised if the shelter management received a very strongly worded letter or phone call from Kaya in the near future. Finally it was time for her to go though, and since it was dark you walked her to her car, your new pet trotting obediently at your heels.

“You know, even though it was a bit of an experience, and even though he doesn’t seem to like me I’m really glad you got him,” Kaya told you as you reached her car, “I was really worried, but it’s obvious he’s already very possessive and protective of you, and I feel so much better.”

“He’s a good one,” you affirmed, gently twining your fingers through his fur as he stood leaning slightly against your leg, “And I’m sure he’ll warm up to you eventually, just give it time.”

“Of course,” Kaya nodded with a gentle smile, “In the mean time you’re safe and that’s all that matters.”

You smiled and reached out for a hug, which she returned clutching you tightly, “Be safe (name) and if you ever need me, or you ever have second thoughts about this place, even if only for a little while my home is always open.”

“Thanks Kaya,” you told her sincerely, “But I think Freckles and I are going to be just fine”

Kaya grinned, “Yeah, you take good care of her okay Freckles? She’s my best friend, my family!”

The dog at your feet seemed to recognize the name you’d bestowed on him, because he let out a whuff, that almost sounded like an agreement. The two of you giggled and with a last wave Kaya headed home for the night.

“Just you and me now huh love?” you asked the dog with a smile, “Come on then, it’s time for bed I think, it’s awfully late.”

Obediently he followed you back inside, watching as you locked the front door carefully, doing a quick circuit of the house to make sure the windows were locked too before heading to your bedroom.

Quickly you moved through your nightly routine, brushing your hair and teeth and putting the hair into pigtail French braids to keep it from getting terribly tangled while you slept, then changing into your pajamas and heading for the bed.

You hopped up on it, settling yourself comfortably and then turned to your dog who was glancing around your room, and patted the comforter beside you catching his attention, “Come on love, time for bed.”

…~oO*Oo~…

Ace stared at the strange woman in shock, praying she didn’t mean what he thought she meant. The time spent with her so far had been quite pleasant, and the food she’d made earlier had been delicious.

He did feel a little bad for stealing the food off the counter, but he was a werewolf, and werewolf metabolism tended to be pretty high, plus his was even higher than normal being an Alpha. She couldn’t have known that a dozen eggs wasn’t enough, and she was right in saying it probably would’ve been for a normal dog, and even for his Beta and Omega brothers and sisters, but certainly not enough for an Alpha, especially since it was the first meal he’d had all day.

He’d appreciated that she hadn’t tried to force the issue with the dog food. The stuff smelled positively unappetizing, and his brothers would never let him live it down if he actually ate it. She’d also been really quick to forgive him for stealing her own food, which endeared her to him further.

Her friend he hadn’t been so sure about, something about her smell made him a bit wary, though even he wasn’t sure why. At first he hadn’t wanted to let his (name) get anywhere near her, but she’d put her foot down, and he knew misbehaving would get him nowhere.

Still as the evening wore on the scent that bothered him wore off, and when he got closer to take a sniff he discovered to his surprise and relief that it wasn’t Kaya herself that smelled off, but someone she’d been in recent contact with. That made it much easier to relax around her, though he still preferred she not get too close.

Hell he didn’t like anyone close, which is why he’d spent the entire night on the couch in her lap, trying to figure out what kind of hold his new “owner” had over him and why. He thought at least in part that it was her smell, he just couldn’t seem to get enough. She was like the equivalent of cat’s catnip to him.

A part of him wondered if the others would think she smelled just as good, but another part, a darker and more possessive part didn’t want to find out. For whatever reason his instincts insisted that she was his, and he didn’t want to share. 

It made it all to easy to agree with Kaya earlier when she asked him to protect her, even though he knew what he should be doing was taking off down the street and back to his pack. He knew they were going to start worrying about him soon when he didn’t come back, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to leave.

It didn’t help that she was so genuinely kind to him with absolutely no ulterior motives. There were plenty of people both inside his pack and outside it that wanted to use him, take advantage of him, or get rid of him for whatever reason. It was something he’d been forced to be wary of all his life, no thanks to who his father had been.

She on the other hand, didn’t have any ulterior motives at all. How could she? She thought he was a dog! Admittedly she’d already noticed that he was smarter and bigger than normal, but he was still just a dog to her, which led to his current dilemma. Because she didn’t know that under the furry guise he wore he had the mind of a man, and even the body of a man most of the time, and she wanted him to sleep in her bed.

Glancing around the room he grimaced as he realized that it was either the bed or the floor. He could probably deal with the floor no problem, he’d done it before. The only problem with that solution was her, as she stared at him with hopeful eyes, gently patting the mattress beside her.

He was trying desperately not to look into those eyes because they were going to be his downfall, even as he searched for a nice piece of floor, “Come on baby please? Won’t you come up here? It’s lonely by myself.”

He could literally feel his face burning beneath his fur, he knew she didn’t mean it like that, but his mind unfortunately had taken it and gone straight to the gutter. Who knew wolves could blush? He was probably going to hell for this.

“Come on handsome,” she coaxed softly, “come here.”

Screw that he was definitely going to hell for this, as unable to resist he allowed himself to be coaxed up on to the bed, settling on the opposite side from the one she had claimed.

“Thanks love,” she crooned, leaning over to plant a kiss on the top of his furry head that would’ve had him blushing down to the roots of his hair if he’d been human, as she leaned over and hit the lights, settling down under the covers for a good night’s rest.

He lay there for a while listening to her breathing until it became deep and even indicating she’d fallen asleep. He was just contemplating getting down from the bed, to keep his guilt levels down, when arms wrapped around his shoulders and a face snuggled into his side. He froze, shocked and mortified as he realized she’d latched on to him in her sleep and was cuddling him like a teddy bear.

Panicked, he tried to think of something, anything to get out of this situation when a familiar blackness began creeping over his vision. He cursed himself and his narcolepsy as he fell into a deep sleep.

…~oO*Oo~…

It was the sunlight that woke him from his slumber, and he sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to figure out where the hell he was. He half remembered waking up sometime in the middle of the night, and being too comfortable to move, settling back down into the comfortable bed for more sleep.

He didn’t recognize his surroundings though, that is until he realized there was a heavy weight on his legs. Glancing down he tried not to panic as he remembered all that had happened the day before, waking at the shelter, being adopted, the evening with (name) and her friend, and finally his narcolepsy kicking in before he could get off the bed.

To make things worse, apparently she’s shifted around in her sleep and now had her head pillowed comfortably on his thigh, his currently human naked thigh. Normally werewolves didn’t have a problem with nudity. Clothes didn’t shift when they did, either tearing into pieces or causing some really awkward accidents. This of course meant that as a Were you had to strip before shifting.

Ace was fine with that, he liked his body, and he knew others liked it too, so he was in no way self-conscious. However waking up completely naked in bed with a woman he respected and liked a lot with her head far too close to his…. Yeah not okay. Especially when said woman was expecting a dog, not a thoroughly naked human male. Luckily he’d somehow managed to wake before her, so the situation could still be salvaged.

Carefully he tried to shift away from her, desperate to get out from under her so he could shift back, only for her hand to come up and latch on to his thigh, an unhappy whine leaving her lips. Ace gasped in surprise, his face burning furiously trying not to think about how close that hand was to the junction in his legs. 

Only his horror at the thought of waking her kept that particular piece of anatomy from standing to attention. After all, he found her extremely attractive. She was just his type, with her fierce, beautiful face, and bountiful curves.

Again he tried to shift her, very carefully removing her hand from where it rested, thanking his lucky stars she appeared to be a fairly deep sleeper. He just about had her off when the sound of an alarm blared through the room.

He about jumped out of his skin, and flinched, waiting for the inevitable scream as she discovered a strange man in her bed. Instead a soft groan emerged from her lips and she rolled off him of her own accord, moving towards the edge of the bed to turn the alarm off without even bothering to open her eyes.

Shocked he just stared for a moment before realizing he needed to move before she turned around. Panicked he rolled right off the edge of the bed, a large thunk! Making him wince.

“Freckles?” her sleepy voice asked worriedly.

He did the only think he could think of then and promptly rolled under the bed to hide.

“Freckles where are you baby?” she asked sounding more awake and concerned. This was so not good.

He went to shift only to smack his hand into something and let out an involuntary yelp of pain, before hurriedly stifling himself with a hand. Glancing around under the bed to see what he’d hit, he cursed. What kind of woman kept a weight set under the bed damnit!

“Freckles!” she exclaimed worriedly and he could hear her shifting around on the bed. Hurriedly he began to shift as fast as he could manage, eyes wide with horror as her face appeared leaning over the bed as he was mid transformation.

The sleepy blue green eyes widened in shock at seeing his face there, and he winced in sympathy as she tumbled head first off the bed. Apparently she hadn’t actually gotten down but had leaned over the side to check for him instead.

Cursing filled the air as she cradled her poor head, and he was actually kind of impressed by her vocabulary. Apparently she had a sharp tongue to match her wild, fierce looks. Rubbing her head she peered cautiously under the bed again. Luckily the shift was finished then, and Ace held his breath waiting for questions or screaming.

“There you are baby? What the hell are you doing under there?” she asked worriedly, “Come on, come out of there. It’s dirty down there. Considering how much you enjoyed your bath yesterday I really hope you won’t need another one.”

Shocked, and still waiting for the other shoe to drop he slowly crawled his way out from under the bed, and over to her. She beamed at him reaching out to ruffle his ears, “Good morning handsome!”

He whuffed at her hesitantly, wondering what the hell was going on. Hadn’t she seen him?

“I had the strangest dreams last night,” she told him still petting him, “Something about wolves turning into men I think. Which was really odd. I guess that means no late night werewolf movies for me. Too bad they’re some of my favorite ones.”

“But I can’t keep watching them if they’re going to screw with my brain like that! For a moment I even thought you were a werewolf, with a human face and everything,” she informed him with a bright laugh, “Ridiculous huh? And that bump to the head certainly helped nothing.”

“I think I’m even going to need some ice for it,” she admitted tenderly touching the bump on her scalp, and wincing as her fingers found the sensitive spot, “Come on then baby, let’s get me some ice and get both of use some breakfast.”

Ace honestly couldn’t believe his luck. She thought seeing his real face had been a leftover figment of imagination and her dreams last night. Though he did have to wonder if she had some sort of intuition that was trying to tell her about him. After all it was more than a bit odd that she’d dream of werewolves right after she took one home from the animal shelter on accident.

“You know, I think if you were a werewolf Freckles, you’d be an awfully handsome one,” she informed him, nearly making him trip over his paws like a pup, “The face I imagined on you certainly was.”

Again his face flushed in shock and pleasure. She thought he was handsome! He quickly shook that thought away and resolved not to think about it. He needed to focus on keeping the werewolf secret, not on the fact that this beautiful woman liked the way he looked.

He grimaced as he looked up and realized he was about eye level with a very shapely rear. Now if only she would stop distracting him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who left Kudos, or Bookmarked this fic! Also special thanks to Kylo_SIN who reviewed first!
> 
> I'm gonna have a quick fan girl moment and tell you that Tsume_Yuki read it! AHH! She's one of my all time favorite authors and if you haven't read her stuff go do it! Tell It to the Marines is literally my favorite fic right now, so if you like OC/SI One Piece make sure to check it out!
> 
> That said please feel free leave comments/critiques/concerns I'd love to hear them, and any ideas you might have for the fic. I've got a lot of it plotted out, but I'm always looking for new inspiration, if not for this fic then for the (literally) hundreds of others I've plotted out by haven't bothered to post/actually write.
> 
> Thanks again guys I hope you enjoyed it!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so here's the thing. I got tired of alternating between the reader insert form of "you" and "she" in the different stories I was writing, both Draclet and Taste used "she" while the others used "you" and I was getting really confused and so was my poor beta. To fix it unless you guys comment otherwise I'm switching it all over to she, just because that's closer to what I'm used to and leaving the (name) as "(name)". I know technically it's just one step away from being an OC as opposed to Reader Insert but honestly it was making me crazy. If I get enough comments I will fix it and go back to "you" but otherwise it's probably going to be "she" from now on.

Breakfast had once more been a hassle as she realized that Freckles didn’t have anything he could eat. Eventually after a lot of debate she’d settled for feeding him slices of toast and some bacon, praying the dog didn’t start thinking that eating people food was normal for him and refuse anything else she offered.

Freckles had devoured everything happily, his tail wagging eagerly, acting just as a normal dog should. Unfortunately she couldn’t seem to shake the strange dreams she’d had last night of her precious new pet turning from lovable, ferocious looking dog into hot male stranger.

It was funny how her imagination seemed to think that Freckles would be extremely handsome as a human. In her dreams he’d been over six feet in height, with dark wavy hair, the same expressive mercury eyes, with a smattering of freckles across his cheeks. 

She was a more than a bit embarrassed to admit he’d been completely naked in those dreams with a body that belonged on the cover of the smutty Harlequin Romance novels she liked to pretend she didn’t read but secretly enjoyed. She groaned and buried her head in her hands.

A soft whine distracted her from her thoughts and she glanced down at her dog, who was peering up at her in concern, having paused from devouring his breakfast.

“I’m alright love,” she assured him reaching down to gently stroke his head, “I’m just thinking that it’s been a long time since I had some male company if you know what I mean.”

She sighed and stood up from her chair, moving to place her dishes in the sink completely missing the gob smacked expression on the dog as she continued, “Of course you don’t, you’re a dog, but I’m telling you Freckles I really need to get out and get laid. I must be getting really desperate if I’m dreaming about my dog turning into a hot naked man huh?”

Choking sounds had her turning in concern to see her dog leaning over his dish making odd hacking noises. Concerned she made her way over and gently stroked his fur soothingly, trying to remember how to do the Heimlich maneuver on a dog, just in case she needed it.

Luckily after a few long moments he seemed to recover and went back to eating his food, not even bothering to look at her. She huffed in amusement, and climbed to her feet, “Guess males are all the same no matter what species, food pretty much trumps all else.”

Walking back to the sink she quickly cleaned up the dishes from breakfast and turned to eye the bag of food she’d bought yesterday. She just hoped they’d let her return it, it had actually been pretty expensive stuff. Heaving the big bag into her arms she stepped out to her car for a second to put it in the trunk.

When she came back to the house she saw her pet waiting anxiously at the door for her, and smiled, “Did you miss me baby? I was only gone for a few minutes.”

The dog licked her hand in answer apparently satisfied that she was in one piece, and trotted back over to his dish to finish eating. Apparently she trumped food after all. The thought made her warm and she smiled tenderly at the oblivious dog before turning her thoughts back to everything she had to get done today.

It was her last day off before she had to go back to work, and she had several errands to run, including going to the grocery store, since Freckles had eaten all her eggs, and her fajitas last night. She also had to run back to the pet store and see if there was any food he’d like.

She figured they might have samples at the pet store, and she contemplated what she would do if he didn’t like anything as she got dressed and ready for the day. She supposed if all else failed then it wouldn’t hurt to try making him some dog food herself. She’d heard if you didn’t mind putting the time in homemade food was actually far better for dogs than the brands, and maybe even cheaper than the organic food she’d been intending to give him.

Still she’d try the other stuff first, and if that didn’t work she’d cook for him, sneaking a glance at her contented pet, who was lying sprawled over the bed serenely she decided he was worth the extra effort if it became necessary.

Rummaging through the bag from the pet store she dug out the receipt in order to hopefully return the food, along with a couple of accessories she’d forgotten about. Approaching her pet she gently grabbed his head and spent a few moments cuddling and cooing at him as she rubbed his cheeks with her fingers, gently scratching his ears, and eventually reaching around his neck and gently snapping the collar into place.

Freckles startled slightly and let out a surprised whine. She pet him reassuringly then pulled back to look. She beamed at him, “Well look at you! Aren’t you so handsome?”

The collar she’d chosen was a burnt orange that showed up nicely against his dark fur, with a silver skull and crossbones at the center. She’d actually gotten several, but this was her favorite of the bunch and it did look very nice on him. He didn’t seem to agree and immediately began to itch at it unhappily staring up at her with pleading eyes.

“Oh no,” she warned him firmly, “I’m not falling for the puppy dog eyes mister, you need that where we’re going and this too.”

The dog practically balked at the sight of the leash, and quick as a flash was up off the bed, and squirming down under it where she wouldn’t be able to reach him. She blinked for a few seconds in shock, she’d never expected a dog that big to move quite that fast before she comprehended what had actually happened and cursed to herself.

Getting down on her hands and knees to peer under her bed, she spotted glowing silver eyes peering back at her, “Come on baby it’s just a leash. I promise it won’t hurt you.”

He whined and backed away from her and she spent a minute cursing whoever had owned this dog before. It was obvious that he knew exactly what the leash was, and for him to be so afraid of it? They had to have done something to him. She hoped whoever it was rotted in hell as she contemplated what to do to coax her pet from under the bed and on to the leash.

…~oO*Oo~…

Contrary to what she was thinking Ace was in fact not at all concerned she might hurt him with the leash. Instead he was imagining the horror of what would happen if his brothers and fellow pack members ever found out about this. He could practically hear the strange fetish jokes now.

They already thought he was a bit odd having never really shown in interest in mating with anyone before, he didn’t need to give them more ammunition. The collar was bad enough, a leash would just be too much. The jokes were all in good fun of course, and he gave as good as he got, but there was only so much his pride could stand. He was an alpha damnit! He didn’t like wearing collars or submitting. 

A part of him though was whispering to him that it might not be so bad, not if she was the one he submit to. It might even be nice. He quickly stomped all over those thoughts and turned his attention to remaining defiant in the face of her gentle persuasion.

She certainly wasn’t making it easy as she got down and reached for him, gently crooning and cooing at him sweetly. The thing to do to really get her to back off would be to growl at her, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that to her. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, or worse, have her be afraid of him. He was too attached already for that.

Instead he did his absolute best to not look her in the eye and reinforce his determination not to be leashed by imagining the taunting faces his brothers would make as they found out. Unfortunately it didn’t seem to be working as well as he might’ve hoped. Already he’d found himself inching back out towards her and couldn’t bring himself to wriggle back once more, knowing it would disappoint her.

He had to wonder what the hell was wrong with him, that he was acting like she was his alpha, when once upon a time he’d vowed to never bow his head to anyone. Admittedly that vow had changed before when he’d become part of Whitebeard’s pack and had submitted to his pops as top alpha, but he’d never thought it would change again, and certainly not like this.

“Come on handsome boy, for me? Please baby, come on, come on,” she coaxed again. She could actually reach him now, and instead of trying to grab on to him and drag him out, which she would inevitably fail at, as he was pretty sure he outweighed her by at least fifty pounds, she was instead gently stroking his fur.

It felt nice, it always did when she was petting him. Werewolves were extremely tactile by nature and Ace craved physical touch perhaps even more than the average Were. His brother Sabo thought maybe it was because the two of them had been so touch deprived as children. Unfortunately despite this because of that same upbringing they were unlikely to actually reach out for it, or be affectionate first. Luckily their baby brother Luffy didn’t have that problem since he was such a demonstrative little brat and had taken affection from them whether they wanted to give it or not.

The petting also helped set his instincts at ease, and practically had his inner wolf purring, which was much different than what would’ve happened if she’d tried to grab him. That probably would’ve raised the wolf’s hackles. He had to admit the woman either had a lot of experience with dogs, or extremely good instincts for a human.

Frankly he wasn’t surprised at all to find himself sitting in front of the bed obediently waiting for her to put the leash on him. She was just so pleased about it, that he couldn’t bring himself to regret it, even if he knew this was going to be an absolutely miserable experience.

“I really am sorry about this baby,” she whispered to him as if she’d heard his thoughts, nuzzling her face against his affectionately, “But the law is the law, and I wouldn’t be able to take you in with me to the pet store if you didn’t put the leash on, and then how would I figure out what kind of food to feed you?”

He sighed, and resigned himself to the indignity. If his brothers ever found out he would just have to tell them he’d done it for the food. They’d certainly believe him, after all he was known for his appetite, and he’d definitely done some ridiculous things before in order to get some. This might not even be the most ridiculous thing… Yeah no this was the worst, but still it was better then letting them think he did it because he couldn’t help submitting when (name) turned her kind loving eyes on him.

…~oO*Oo~…

Just as she had suspected Freckles had refused to eat any of the food at the pet store. The worker who was with them, and helping them with samples would probably have been amused if not for the sheer intimidation factor her large dog presented. Hell she would’ve been amused by the offended expression on his face, if not for the fact that his picky eating habits meant she’d have to make his food herself.

In the end though she’d resigned herself, and the helpful store clerk had pointed her in the direction of a book with healthy dog friendly recipes to try. 

“You’re so lucky I love you,” she informed the dog in exasperation as they pulled into the grocery store parking lot. Once again she missed the surprise on his face, but she didn’t miss the cold nose on her neck or the tongue that left slobber all over her cheek as she parked.

She yelped in surprise then laughed and cuddled him for a second, “You’re too cute. I’m glad you love me too. Stay here and be good okay? I’m going to go see about getting food for the both of us.”

It was a pretty nice spring day, the weather had warmed up a lot for mid-March and it wasn’t too hot or too cold, so she rolled the windows down a crack to let fresh air in, and headed inside unconcerned about leaving him in the parking lot. Especially as it looked like he was settling in for a nice nap.

The trip took a bit longer than she would’ve liked. She’d apparently come at a good time, because they were having a good sale in their meat department. Knowing how big her dog was, and that his appetite more than matched his size she made sure to stock up, using her new recipe book as guidance. 

Her wallet definitely took a hit as she went through the checkout line, but she consoled herself that it could’ve been much worse. Thus she was fairly cheerful as she popped open the back of her SUV and began loading her things inside. It didn’t take too long, and she quickly returned her cart hoping to get home and get cooking so she could test to see what her new pet liked and then maybe make several big batches to store in the freezer.

Her thoughts were put on hold as she accidentally ran into someone on the way back to her vehicle, “Oh! I’m so sorry! I wasn’t watching where I was… Klahadore is that you?”

Sure enough as the man straightened, adjusting his glasses in that strange manner of his, it was Klahadore. He was the butler at Kaya’s place, and while he had never been anything but polite to her, sometimes the things he said came off extremely rude even when phrased politely. 

She didn’t know if she was simply being oversensitive but something about him made the hairs on her neck stand on end. She didn’t trust him.

“Ah, Miss (Name), long time no see,” he greeted calmly as he casually dusted himself off, “How have you been?”

“Not too bad, and yourself? My apologies again for knocking into you,” she replied automatically dropping into the more formal speech pattern she always used whenever she went to visit Kaya in her home.

“No harm done,” he assured her genially, “None at all, and I’m fairing rather well thank you for asking. Should we be expecting a visit from you some time in the near future? Miss Potts was complaining just the other day about missing having her kitchen assistant around.”

The words were kind, but the way he said them, as if implying she was only welcome as a lowly kitchen assistant as opposed to Kaya’s best friend, made her bristle slightly, her tone cooling a touch in response, “No, I don’t think so. I’ve just finished moving in to my new home you see, and I’ve gotten myself a pet. I rather doubt I’ll have the time for an extended visit any time soon, but please give Miss Potts my regards.”

“Of course, I’d forgotten about that, finally deciding to spread your wings and move out from under the shelter of the Kouda family’s hospitality,” he remarked casually, though the way he said “hospitality” made it sound more like “charity”, “And a what side of town are you living on again?”

“The South side,” she remarked calmly, though inwardly she thought she knew where this was going and was fighting the urge to snarl and snap at the man. However she felt like that would be letting him win, and so controlled her urges.

“Oh dear,” he remarked smug, “Quite a rough part of town isn’t that? Is it really safe for the young mistress to be visiting you down there?”

She kept her face bland and polite, even as a part of her hissed that she had known this was coming, “Yes well, I am sure Kaya and I will both be fine, that’s what my new pet is for after all, for protection.”

As if on cue a loud, rumbling snarl filled the air, and she was shocked to see her new dog, coming up behind her, his eyes fixed on Klahadore, gleaming with dislike, “What? Freckles? How do you get out of the car?”

The dog of course didn’t answer instead pushing his way in between her and Klahadore all the while growling viciously at the man.

“Oh my! What an ugly uncivilized brute,” Klahadore remarked with a snide sneer, “And you just let it run around freely? How irresponsible!”

“The doors were all shut,” she protested, still shocked even as she allowed her dog to herd her backwards away from the uppity, rude butler.

“Apparently not!” he hissed at her angrily. She was surprised to see he was actually a bit pale, sweat beading on his normally cool and composed face. Honestly she should probably feel bad he was obviously frightened, but all she felt was a strange sort of satisfaction.

“Get your mutt under control before I call the cops!” he threatened, taking a step backwards as her pet snarled menacingly at him.

“Come on Freckles,” she cooed softly, “Let’s get you back in the car huh baby? And see if we can’t figure out how you got out.”

The dog didn’t take his eyes off Klahadore as he slowly backed away from him, moving towards her and the car, still growling in warning.

“There’s a sweet love,” she crooned as he reached her, gently threading her fingers through his fur, “Time to go home.”

She was turning towards the car when Klahadore apparently decided he needed another parting shot, “I always knew nothing good could come for Miss Kaya associating with low class, redneck trailer trash like you, be sure Mr. Kouda will be hearing about this!”

Involuntarily her entire body stiffened in fury. She was about to give the butler a piece of her mind when an eerie howling roar caught her attention, and she turned just in time to see her dog lunge, furiously at the man. In that split second the world seemed to move in slow motion and she could see the strange, almost smug expression on his face and realized that if her dog attacked him now, not only would it get her in trouble with the Kouda family, it would likely also lead to her new pet being put down.

_“STOP!”_ the word burst from her lips as the world sped back up, and Freckles froze in his tracks, just a foot from Klahadore, teeth bared and eyes intent on his prey.

“Freckles come back here,” she ordered sternly, but this time he didn’t seem inclined to obey. Dogs, she knew were very sensitive to human emotion, and it was likely he sensed she wasn’t as firm in what she wanted from him. Probably because a part of her, the vicious, vindictive part that didn’t trust the man at all, would really like to see him get his comeuppance.

Still that couldn’t happen here, not when Freckles would be the one to pay the price, this time she put all her resolve into it, _“Come back here.”_

He obeyed, slowly backing away from the man, who was looking none too pleased and returning to her side where she took firm hold of his collar, so he couldn’t lunge again without her noticing.

“Did you see that?” Klahadore asked the people in the parking lot, who had stopped to stare at the commotion, “That mongrel just tried to attack me! The little gutter snipe set her dog on me!”

“What they saw,” (name) spat back viciously, “Was you calling me names and verbally attacking me when my back was turned, and my loving pet trying to protect me! Yes he somehow got out of the car, when I thought I closed the door, which is of course my fault, and yes he lunged at you, but he thought I was in trouble, and he stopped the minute I ordered it. He didn’t touch a hair on your head. Yet here you are, once again calling me names even when I’ve done nothing to deserve it! It’s like you’re purposely provoking him and me.”

The bystanders murmured in agreement, one of them even commenting on how well the dog was trained to be able to stop on a dime like that at her command. Klahadore sensing he was losing the argument sniffed at her, “Either way the Kouda’s will be hearing of this!”

“Go ahead and tell them,” she challenged him flatly, “Tell them about how you decided to make a scene in the grocery store parking lot and then try to blame and provoke me. I’m sure they’ll be thrilled at your behavior, and that will be the story you tell them. After all I do have witnesses, and if that isn’t enough…”

She gestured for him to look behind him, pointing to the camera on the entrance of the grocery store set there to stop thieves, “I even have video evidence.”

“I really hate dogs, that mutt of yours needs to be put down,” he tried one last time.

“Good for you, but my dog is none of your business, now if you’ll excuse me, he and I need to get home before the meat spoils,” With that she turned on her heel and left, Freckles following obediently though he seemed to be watching Klahadore from the corner of his eye. Once they got to the SUV she groaned as she realized how he’d gotten out. Apparently she hadn’t latched the trunk as well as she thought she had, a dog as big as her Freckles could easily vault the seats and get out if he wanted to. At least the groceries seemed okay. She was a bit surprised he hadn’t taken the chance to snarf them all down.

She made sure to close it firmly this time, and coaxed Freckles back into the passenger side, shutting the door behind him then climbing into the driver’s seat. Once settled and away from prying eyes, she quickly shot a text to Kaya explaining everything that had happened before Klahadore could get home and start making up stories.

That done she took a second to lean back in her seat and just breathe, trying to calm down her still racing heart. A soft whine and a gentle lick to her cheek had her turning and burying her face in soft dark fur, arms twining around his shaggy neck, hugging him tightly. After several long moments she pulled back, holding his face in her hands so he had to look her right in the eye.

“You can never, ever do that again,” she informed him sternly, “You scared at least ten years off my life!”

He stared at her pitifully and gave a soft whimper, and she sighed, “I get it. I really do, Klahadore is a jerk, and frankly a part of me thinks he deserves to get his face bitten off. I’ve never, ever liked him, and it’s pretty obvious you didn’t either, you certainly weren’t nearly as aggressive with Kaya.”

“He’s never been that rude or hostile towards me before though, normally he’s much more passive aggressive in the things he says, subtle insults that most wouldn’t even catch. I’ve tried talking to Kaya about it, but she really likes him and says I should be more open minded,” she explained still holding his head with one hand but using the other to begin combing her fingers through his fur.

“You see Kaya’s father found Klahadore on their doorstep about three years ago. He’d been badly beaten and mauled by something. They took him to the hospital, and even paid for his treatment, the Kouda’s are generous like that. After he tracked them down and insisted that he had to repay them somehow. Eventually they agreed to take him on as a butler, since their old one Merry, is getting up there in years.”

“I’d been friends with Kaya for years by that point of course, but he made it obvious to me right from the start he didn’t think I was a good friend for her, always casually pointing out anything and everything I did wrong to the Koudas. Kaya said I was being too sensitive and that he probably just hadn’t ever seen quirks like mine before, but I didn’t think so. Something about him just raises my hackles, and I don’t know why,” she continued her fingers tightening in his fur.

“Maybe it’s because I’m such a dog person, and he reminds me of a cat,” she mused with a tired smile, “Either way I can’t have you attacking people like that.”

“That camera was right there. There was nothing I would’ve been able to do or say if you’d actually hurt him. Not when the fault was obviously mine for not closing the trunk of the car well enough,” she told him sadly, “They would’ve taken you away, they would’ve put you down and it would’ve been all my fault.”

She buried her face in his neck again at her admission trying not to cry at the thought of someone taking him away and the light leaving those beautiful silver eyes. It had only been just over a day and already she couldn’t bear the thought of losing him, “Kaya even warned me about this last night, and I said I knew but I guess I didn’t.”

“I’m sorry for being such an irresponsible idiot love,” she told him nuzzling her face into his fur, “I promise to be better. I’ll keep you safe, and in return, how about you promise me not to go attacking people like that unless they invade our home or physically try to attack me first okay?”

She wasn’t exactly expecting an answer, but his small ‘whuff’ with perfect timing did make her giggle. She clutched him tighter for a moment and then planted several kisses on his head and muzzle in a storm of affection, “Thank you for protecting me though, my fierce defender. I do appreciate it, just be more careful next time.”

…~oO*Oo~…

Ace watched as (name) moved around the kitchen. For once his stomach was extremely full. He’d been a bit leery when she’d announced she was going to make him dog food herself, but seeing as she’d used regular grocery store ingredients, and nothing at all strange had made him feel a lot better about it.

The smells as she’d cooked up a storm had been positively amazing, and even though she claimed it was dog food, it had looked much more like people food to him. Frankly he was pretty sure it was people food, just dog friendly considering it didn’t use too many spices or anything that wasn’t okay for dogs to eat.

It was probably nutritious, but he didn’t really care about that, what he did care about was that it was absolutely delicious. (Name) had been trying recipes since they’d gotten back from the grocery store, and he’d gotten an enormous sample of every single one of them.

Speaking of the grocery store though, he was still feeling a bit guilty for that one, mostly because she had been feeling guilty. None of that had been her fault, despite what she thought, she actually had closed the trunk tight enough to keep a dog inside. He hadn’t gone out the trunk, he’d simply hidden himself and shifted back just enough to open the door with his hands, then close it and open the trunk to give himself an alibi. The reason he’d done it, was of course because of that bastard butler.

He’d been pretty okay with staying in the car while she went in to get food for the two of them. Guiltily he’d thought he should probably use that moment to escape before he caused her any problems or things got more awkward. After all even if she wasn’t feeling suspicious yet a part of her did probably know what he was.

Whether that was because she’d actually woken sometime during the night and seen his human form and dismissed it as a dream, or because she had a strange sort of intuition it didn’t really matter. What did matter is there was no way she should be dreaming about him turning into a man, even if he’d been embarrassed but also extremely interested to know what exactly she’d been dreaming about him that had led her to think she needed to get laid, after he’d gotten past his shock that is.

However as much as he’d contemplated it, he just couldn’t bring himself to leave her just yet. After all if he disappeared right now she would’ve spent all that money on food for nothing, and would likely spend hours looking for him thinking he would be nearby. He didn’t want the guilt of that on his conscious, instead promising himself he’d leave tomorrow when she went to work.

That way she probably wouldn’t actually go looking as it would be clear he was long gone. The thought still made him ache with guilt, but it was the best he could do in his situation. He wanted to curse his brothers for putting him in it, in the first place, but honestly they couldn’t have known. Couldn’t have known a beautiful, sweet, fascinating woman with the Voice of an alpha would come right in and adopt him. They’d just been hoping to prank him. He hoped they got a good laugh out of it while it lasted, because he certainly wasn’t laughing.

He was far too attached for that, which was why he’d snuck out of the car. He’d actually settled into a nap, and had only woken when she’d come back and loaded up the food. While she was returning the cart he’d settled himself in the passenger seat to be ready to go when she came back, only to be in prime position to see as a strange man stepped right into (name’s) path purposefully knocking into her.

That had really pissed him off, however he could mostly hear their conversation, the perks of open windows and werewolf senses, so he was pretty sure she knew him and wasn’t in danger. He may just want to hit on her, and while the thought was extremely upsetting for reasons he didn’t want to think about he knew it wasn’t really his right to interfere.

However as it became increasingly clear that she was uncomfortable in that interaction it had been harder and harder for him to stay put, especially as he finally picked up the man was insulting her. He’d finally had enough when it became obvious she was getting upset no one was allowed to upset his (name)!

Luckily he’d been in the right state of mind to give himself an alibi, before going over to her with the intent of maybe prancing around and giving her an excuse to get out of there claiming she needed to corral him. Instead the wind had shifted and he’d finally caught scent of the man. It was the same scent that had made him so wary of Kaya until it became clear it wasn’t hers, thick, cloying, and a bit like dead fish. It made his hackles rise and a low snarl emerge from his throat involuntarily.

His instincts had told him the man was absolutely no good and a clear danger to his (name), he wanted her as far away from him as possible. He would’ve been more than content with getting her away in order to protect her from the strange man. Not knowing why the scent put him on edge made him extremely wary, but then he’d gone and tried to insult her.

He could see how the comments affected her, and he wasn’t about to let him get away with that. He hadn’t even thought of the consequences as he’d lunged for the man, only to hear the alphas Voice emerge from his tiny human (name) once more.

It was a voice he simply couldn’t disobey, and he’d been forced to back away. However he’d kept his eyes on the man called Klahadore and had been shocked to see a knowing gleam in them. He knew what Ace was, he knew! How he knew Ace didn’t know but it made him anxious and even more determined to get her away.

Once they’d gotten in the car he’d been more than a bit worried that she hadn’t immediately left. He’d understood the need to text Kaya about the shithead butler, but after that she’d just been sitting there with her eyes closed. It wasn’t until she was latched on to him that he realized she was shaking.

He’d felt terrible then, like an absolute beast as she admitted he’d scared her. He didn’t want her to be frightened of him. He would never ever hurt her, but then the whole story had come tumbling out, and she’d said she wasn’t afraid so much of him, as she was for him.

This of course actually made him feel even worse, because here she was thinking she was an awful pet owner when in reality she’d done nothing wrong. It had also reinforced his dislike of the pompous bastard he’d tried to attack, and while a part of him did wish he’d gotten a couple of scratches in, the bigger part was glad nothing had happened.

Still for him to lose control over himself like that was not just unusual but practically unheard of. When he was younger he’d lost control a lot, so much so that his gramps had kept him secluded from the human population in order to keep the secret, but after Luffy and Sabo came into his life he’d gotten a lot better. After he’d joined up with Whitebeard it had become pretty much flawless, second only to Whitebeard and his beta Marco.

Which was why it was shocking for him to have lost it, even for a moment. He knew why though. It was her, everything was about her. He was obsessed and possessive and he knew it. If she had been a Were, he probably would’ve been scent marking all over her, trying to claim her as his and begging for her to rub her own delicious scent all over him in return. 

As it was the way she rubbed her cheeks on his, nuzzling and cuddling meant he didn’t have to actually do too much to ensure she was covered in his scent. It was a heady and arousing thought, and he couldn’t bring himself to protest not matter how much she did it. No matter how much it meant that leaving would be just that much harder.

Because she wasn’t a Were, she was a human, and so he had to leave. He never even considered turning her. He knew it was an option, especially for an intriguing human like her who had the alpha’s voice, but he couldn’t bear the thought of it, not when not all humans survived the transformation with minds intact.

A great many of them lost themselves to the wolf within during their first transformation and had to be put down for the safety of the pack. They called it moon madness, and those humans struck by it couldn’t be reasoned with, they went full on aggressive animal and attacked everyone, even those who had been their closest friends. 

His mother had been killed by a newborn moon mad wolf, shortly after he was born, and his father had followed a few weeks after, just managing to put the newborn down before succumbing to grief and illness.

He couldn’t bear the thought of his (name) lost like that, her fierce intelligent gaze flat and empty the way those with moon madness often were, rampaging around like a mad animal. Of having to put her down, and never see her again, knowing it was all his fault.

No, she would stay safe and human, he would see to it one way or another, which meant leaving tomorrow once she was safely gone. However he meant to cherish every last second he still had with her, and so he didn’t take his eyes off her as she moved around the kitchen, memorizing the way she looked, the way she moved, the sway of her hips and the sparkle in those fierce eyes, and that oh so enticing scent.

He would hold on to it for as long as he could, trying to stave off the knowledge that tomorrow he would be gone, and he wouldn’t ever get to see this again. No matter how much it might hurt to leave her behind it was for the best, and she would be safe even from him, he would make sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! Special Thanks to Tsume_Yuki and Gaearnith for their comments and especially to Tsume_Yuki who wrote an awesome fic and gifted it to me called "you and your bad tricks (you are my quick fix)" it's awesome and I adore it. :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning this story started cute and fluffy and will still have cute and fluffy moments but it has Ace in it and for me as much as I love him Ace = Angst. Though I promise there will be a happy ending (if it ever ends lol)

(Name) wasn’t looking forward to going to work today. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy her job, being a bartender could be pretty fun, and usually paid fairly well since the place she worked at was fairly popular. The reason she didn’t want to go today was actually twofold, first she didn’t want to leave her new pet behind.

She hadn’t actually been separated from him for longer than it took her to shower since he’d come home from the animal shelter. Honestly she was worried he might have separation anxiety, especially since she was more than a bit anxious herself.

The second reason was a lot more unpleasant. It was Monday, which meant that one of their regulars would be in tonight. She hadn’t actually bothered to learn his name over the time she’d worked there, instead referring to him as sir to his face, and “Grabby hands McGee” in the privacy of her own mind.

The name was fairly self-explanatory, the self-entitled ass was a sloppy drunk who liked to grope the waitresses and spent most of the time at the bar trying to look down her shirt.

“What do you think Freckles?” she asked turning to her pet who was lazing on the bed, “You think this is sexy enough to get good tips, but conservative enough to keep off Grabby-Hands McGee?”

The dog didn’t answer just looked at her steadily and she sighed, “You’re probably right. I could probably be wearing a nun’s habit and the jerk would still try to cop a feel, stupid asshole.”

“It’s too bad I can’t take you with me, huh baby?” she asked going to the bed and nuzzling against his face, giving him a thorough petting, “I’m sure you’d scare the hell out of the stupid, old, pervert wouldn’t you?”

He licked her face reply, nuzzling back against her affectionately. She giggled and tenderly pressed kisses to the top of his head and both cheeks, “Alright Freckles, time for dinner I think, since I know it’s going to be a long night I’m gonna treat myself, and if you’re good I’ll give you some too okay?”

The sound of nails clicking on hardwood was her answer as the dog followed her to the kitchen, right on her heels. He was being a bit clingy tonight, and it was almost like he knew she’d be leaving, which made her even more anxious about leaving him alone. Still it was inevitable, she had to work after all to pay her bills and put food on the table. Freckles would just have to get used to it.

…~oO*Oo~…

Ace knew he was being a bit creepy, but he couldn’t quite bear to take his eyes off her for even a second knowing this would be his last day with her. It was also why he’d agreed to sleep on the bed again last night despite his fear of waking in his human body as opposed to his wolf one again.

While it had happened, he’d managed to control himself, not freak out and shift back before she woke up. He’d spent the several long moments before that enjoying her hold on him. It turned out she was a cuddler, and had latched on the moment he was back on the bed. He hadn’t even bothered to try wiggling out of her hold a second time, figuring if he was going to be damned and guilty he might as well do it thoroughly.

The day had been a pleasant one, and he’d actually gotten more time with her than he’d expected. It turned out she essentially had more of an evening shift than the daytime job he’d been expecting. He’d spent every minute of it glued to her side, listening to her voice, and enjoying the affection she offered him so freely.

It stung to know he wasn’t going to get something like it ever again, but he held fast in his belief that what he was doing was in her best interests. He would just take as much as he could before leaving.

Now though she was getting ready to leave. He didn’t want her to go, and he was not at all happy to hear of this “Grabby hands McGee” whoever he was, he’d damn well better keep his hands off of (name)! The thought made him want to snarl in rage and rip the stupid drunk’s hands off so he could never put his filthy mitts on her ever again. Still there was really nothing he could do about it, especially since he was leaving. His only comfort was that (name) seemed like a tough girl and it was pretty obvious she could take care of herself. 

As the clock ticked down though he was more and more desperate to stay as close to her as possible. Which was why for the first time in his life he completely ignored the extremely appetizing food she put in his dish, and instead stood by her at the stove, leaning as much of his bulk on her legs as he dared without knocking her over, enjoying that she would stop every few seconds to ruffle his ears.

“What’s wrong baby?” she asked him concernedly when whatever she was cooking was finally done, “Aren’t you hungry?”

A soft involuntary whine left his throat, as she looked at him with such deep, loving concern, knowing it was going to hurt her when she came home to find him gone.

“Oh love, sometimes I think you’re too smart for a dog you know? I’ll only be gone for a few hours,” she cooed, kneeling down on the floor and running her hands all over him, as his heart lurched painfully in his chest, realizing she thought he was suffering anxiety. Well, she was right in a way, just not for the reasons she thought. It wasn’t her who was going to be doing the leaving, it was him.

“Just a few hours, and I’ll be back,” she reiterated reassuringly, “I don’t want to go you know, especially not with that pervert coming tonight, but I’ve got to feed us you know?”

“Speaking of food,” she stood for a second, and crossed back over to the stove, moving what she’d been working on and stepping between the counter and the island to grab a cutting board, and knife, slicing what looked to be steak into much smaller strips. Normally the sight and scent would have his mouth watering, but not tonight.

He just wanted to be close to her, at least for a little while longer, and to that end attempted to move to her side only to find himself unable to move forward. He wriggled and let out a surprised whine as he realized the gap between island and the counter was too small for his massive body in wolf form to fit through.

He then attempted to back out only to find he couldn’t do that either, he’d wriggled himself too far forward in his attempts to reach her and now couldn’t get back out. He was well and truly stuck.

A strange sound forced his attention back on to (name) who was looking at him her hands pressed tightly to her mouth, and her blue-green eyes sparkling. He looked up at her miserably and apparently it was just too much because she burst into laughter.

“I’m sorry baby,” she choked out between giggles, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh, but you’re just so cute!”

As always when she called him those endearing names, he could feel his face flushing in embarrassment. He was not cute damnit! He was an alpha and he was fierce and if she had to use an adjective to describe his looks he much preferred sexy, or handsome, or hot, anything but the cute and adorable she insisted on using.

More than once he’d wondered if her definition of cute might be more than a little messed up. After all, all the humans he’d met in wolf form found his large stature and aggressive build intimidating or downright frightening. Even her friend Kaya had been a little anxious around him, when she saw him for the first time. Hell other Weres had been intimidated by him before, for her to think he was cute like this was more than a little strange.

It was also kind of nice, not that he’d ever admit that to anyone, that she could like him despite his frightening appearance like this. However he wasn’t actually appreciating it at the moment considering all it was doing was making her laugh at him.

He whimpered again in embarrassment, trying to wriggle free once more, only to yelp in surprise when something pinched. Immediately her laughter cut off, and she was down on the floor in front of him, hands gentle, and an extremely concerned look on her face.

“Oh, my poor love, are you alright?” she asked anxiously tenderly running her fingers along his cheeks and ruffling his ears reassuringly, “Don’t worry baby I’ll get you out of there. My big, strong, tough love.”

With her help he managed to finally wriggle backwards enough for his shoulders to pop free, and she followed behind him, tender hands running over his shoulders, chest and front legs searching for any kind of injury or tenderness. Luckily, despite getting stuck, werewolves healed really quickly, especially from minor injuries. He might have some minor bruising, but that was it, and they’d be gone by tomorrow morning pretty much without a trace.

“Guess there won’t be any going behind the island for you huh my love?” she asked gently, “That’s alright, nothing you would’ve wanted back there anyway.”

Giving him one last pet she made her way back over to the counter and removed the food she’d been preparing there. He expected her to take it to the table the same way she usually did, but instead she knelt back down in front of him, plucking a piece of the succulent looking steak and offering to him.

Ace’s heart lurched painfully in his chest, and he reminded himself over and over that there was no way she could know what such a gesture meant, that she didn’t mean it the way he wanted to take it, that she was just feeding treats to her dog.

In Werewolf society the act of eating was generally considered a social thing, and it was a pack bonding activity, something they all did together. Hence the reason he generally only felt comfortable eating while she was in the room. Close friends and pack members also tended to share food, and so her getting his food for him every day was considered an affectionate gesture, especially since she prepared the food herself.

This stemmed from some of the ancient and more formal Werewolf courting rituals that hardly anyone used anymore, when it was traditional for the omega or beta to be able to cook elaborate meals for their alpha, as a sign of love, reverence and respect. These days that didn’t happen as much but it was still considered something you only did for close friends and family.

However her offering to feed him by hand was something else entirely. That was an extremely intimate gesture, generally only seen between parents and their pups, and potential mates. It was in fact something of a gesture that would be akin to offering a promise ring. 

It could still be backed away from without shame, if at a later date you found yourselves incompatible but it was considered a deep and meaningful gesture. It was something no one had ever offered, and that he in turn had never offered before.

And yet, even knowing this, even as his heart clenched so painfully he could barely breathe, even though she knew nothing of it, he accepted anyway, taking the small bits of steak she offered carefully from her delicate fingers, savoring the taste, savoring the moment. It was a moment he would cherish, even if she’d never know what it meant to him, because even if she had known, he still would’ve accepted.

Before he knew it the steak is gone, and he felt warm, full of affection for this sweet woman. He licked her cheek, a gesture he’d become accustomed to when pretending to be her dog. It’s actually something his wolf instincts don’t mind at all, because in the pack licking showed affection to the people you loved. 

He’d actually never done it before outside of the extremely rare times he’d done it for Luffy when they’d both been pups, it had seemed a bit too intimate and affectionate, like a kiss on the cheek. Funny how only two days with this woman saw him doing it with a frequency that would have all his family members and everyone who knew him gaping in shock.

She stood and wiped her hands free of the residue from the steak, and then glanced at the clock. From the cursing he was going to guess she was running late. He watched as she scarfed down the steak and ran around the house quickly collecting a light spring jacket and her purse.

This was it, she was leaving, and then he would have to be leaving too. She was already nearly halfway out the door, when the most pitiable sound he’d ever made in his life accidently slipped from his mouth. It made her pause and turn back, and for a brief wild moment he hoped she would stay because if she stayed that meant he couldn’t leave.

Instead she wrapped arms around him, peppering his face with kisses and whispering reassurances, and soft orders for him to be good before standing with one last smile, “Be good love, and don’t worry I’ll be back later, I’ll always come back to you and you won’t be alone for long promise! Love you!”

With that she was out the door, the sound of the lock sliding into place behind her as she set off for work, completely unaware of the guilt she’d unleashed on him without even trying.

The agonizing feeling of shame was eating away at his insides, because she’d just promised to always come back to him, but he couldn’t promise to be here. He didn’t know how long he sat, just staring at the door where she disappeared wondering why the hell this was so hard to accept, wondering why he was so attached.

He was Portgas D. Ace, he didn’t get attached to people like this, not within so short a time period. Hell it had taken both his brothers and the entirety of Whitebeard’s pack including the alpha himself months for him to allow them into close proximity without growling or snapping at them.

It hadn’t even been three whole days since she’d brought him home, for her to have enough sway over him that he had allowed her to cuddle him, had eaten from her hands? It was unthinkable.

He wanted to be angry, anger was a familiar emotion to him, one that had kept him strong all through childhood as he lashed out at anyone and everyone he could. 

Back then he’d wanted to tear open anyone who looked at him cross-eyed, it wasn’t his fault his father had been an extremely powerful alpha who was the mortal enemy of the Pack whose lands he’d been taken to live on after his parents had been killed. It wasn’t his fault none of his father’s previous pack had been willing or able to take in their alpha’s orphaned pup, and it certainly wasn’t his fault he’d somehow ended up dumped on Garp who’d then proceeded to dump him off again, but they had certainly tried to make it that way.

The tiny roving pack who’d raised him had only done it because Garp had threatened to have them killed for trespassing on the Marine pack’s territory. Needless to say they had resented the hell out of him, and he in turn had resented back. It didn’t help that his only other interactions were in a nearby Were settlement where everyone hated his father, and had thought any spawn of his should die, not that they knew he was that spawn, that at least Garp had managed to keep quiet. Not that they were anymore welcoming to the Dadan Roving Pack’s bastard offspring, but at least they hadn’t tried to kill him on sight.

He’d only begun letting go of some of that anger when he’d met Sabo, another young alpha pup who had refused to conform to his parents ideals and been kicked from the pack. Then Garp had dropped off Luffy, hoping to keep him out of the hands of his son’s rival pack, and he’d become even less angry, though he hadn’t really started to completely let go of his resentment until he’d challenged and then been subsequently defeated by his father’s old rival Whitebeard.

Still the emotion that should’ve come easily to him remained out of reach because who was there to be angry at? Not his pack brothers, who had meant nothing malicious with their little prank. Hell if she hadn’t turned up that day and he’d escaped the way he planned he probably would’ve had a good laugh over it with them. And definitely not her, because she knew nothing of Werewolves, knew nothing of Ace, thought she was just taking in a stray to love and call her own.

Without the familiar anger to help shield him all he was left with was the sickening self-loathing and guilt, more emotions that he was intimately familiar with. He tried not to think about the innocent woman who’d melted him so easily, who’d opened up her home, her wallet, and her heart thinking she was getting a loving faithful companion only to get him instead.

He didn’t want to imagine the fearful crushed expression on her face as she realized he was gone, knowing that like the incident with Kuro she would lay the entire blame on her own shoulders, thinking she must’ve somehow allowed him to escape.

What’s done was done now, and there was no going back, just getting out before the situation became even worse. He just had to pray she wouldn’t go looking for him when she came home, late at night and in the bad part of town. The thought had him whining in misery until he remembered the alternative, which was to admit to everything.

He wouldn’t do that though, because the sheer amount of betrayal was hard to fathom. He’d come into her home, eaten her food, hell he’d even slept in her bed, she would be horrified if she knew, horrified and furious, and there was no doubt in her mind she would hate him. There were some extenuating circumstances of course, but even he was more than a little disgusted at his own behavior.

Even if by some miracle she accepted it, if she forgave him, she would still have to be changed. Were laws said if a human discovered them that was the only option, and he couldn’t do it, not with the risk of moon madness hanging over him and her.

Obviously he couldn’t spend the rest of his life with her pretending to be a dog. Firstly his family would never stand for that, and secondly it would only be so long before she discovered what he truly was. She already had suspicions in the back of her mind, even if the conscious part of her hadn’t realized it yet. It was only a matter of time before she figured it out.

That meant leaving was his only option. Slowly he forced himself to shift back so he could open the door without issues. Taking a last glance around the room he hesitated, breathing in deeply trying to memorize the scent, her scent, which lurked in every corner of this house.

The wolf in him was keening in protest as he slowly unlocked the door, every instinct screaming, for reasons he could barely understand, to stay here, with her. He took hold of those instincts and with all the expertise of years of practice shoved them down into the deepest vaults of his mind.

Pulling the door open he stepped outside, grateful for the dark shadows around the door, which hid his figure from anyone passing by. Apparently he’d been brooding long enough for the sun to set, and night to fall. He hesitated technically speaking he should leave the door open, break the lock or something to give himself an alibi like he’d done with the car, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Not when it meant that others would try to take advantage, especially in this part of town, not when it had the potential to hurt her, not when it might allow someone to sneak in when there was no one around to protect her, not anymore. So instead he gently closed the door behind himself, deciding to say screw it to that last bit of precaution on the part of keeping his Werewolf secret, this was the only thing he could do for her now, he wouldn’t be able to bear the guilt if something happened to her or her things because of him.

Glancing around to check that the streets were empty he allowed himself to fall back into his wolf form. Padding down the driveway he paused to take one last glance at the house, and felt his heart leap into his mouth, because her SUV was still in the driveway.

She was supposed to have gone to work! What the hell was her car still doing at her house? Had she not left after all? Had something happened to her while he’d been too caught up in his self-flagellating thoughts to notice? Anxiously he scurried back up the drive and sniffed around the car, but as he suspected her scent around it, while strong from consistent use, was at least a day old.

Where the hell was she? Worriedly he retraced his footsteps to the front porch, and found her scent fresh there, and quickly followed it, down the lawn and on to the sidewalk. There were no other scents intermixed with hers, no indication of any sort of struggle, which meant she’d likely gone of her own free will.

A low unhappy whine escaped him as he realized just what that meant. She had walked to work, walked to work and would have to walk home, in the dark, with no protection, in the bad part of town. He was nearly having heart palpitations. Was she nuts?! It was like she was asking to be attacked!

The thought of her being mugged on the way back from work had his already over protective instincts soaring to new heights, and before he knew it he found himself following along the trail intent on finding her. Luckily his dark fur blended in well at night, and since this was the bad part of town they were used to seeing strays, admittedly not strays as big and scary looking as he was, but he was pretty sure even if he was spotted they wouldn’t pay much attention.

Following on her trail he found her place of work actually wasn’t too far away, only about six blocks or so from her house, but that didn’t make him feel any better. The place was fairly busy for a Monday night, so he knew it must be pretty popular despite its somewhat shabby appearance.

He couldn’t get any closer than he was, not without being spotted, but now he was here he couldn’t bring himself to leave, not with the image of her getting mugged, or worse on her way home was playing over and over in his mind. There was nothing for it, he was going to have to stay until she got off work and make sure she got home safely.

It was the least he could do for her, he reasoned with himself, considering all she had done for him. A few extra hours wouldn’t make anything worse with pops and the Pack, so it wouldn’t hurt to stay and do this one last thing for her.

That decided he quickly found a deserted alley where he was relatively hidden from view, and settled in to wait.

…~oO*Oo~…

Just as she’d suspected it had been a fairly busy night at the bar, made even more hectic than usual because one of the waitresses had called off with food poisoning. That meant that along with mixing up drinks at the bar she also had to regularly step out on the floor and help out a bit.

Any other night she would’ve been more than happy to help out with this, but not Monday night, and especially not when “Grabby Hands McGee” was having an especially “grabby” night. She’d slapped his hands away from her body several times now, getting more and more fed up each time.

The only reasons she hadn’t given him a nice kick in the nuts to teach him a lesson were one, he was sitting down, and two he was a regular and the boss wouldn’t be happy with her if she unmanned one of the regular customers. Unfortunately she really needed this job too, so there wasn’t much she could do.

Wading her way through the throng of people, after delivering another round of drinks to a bachelorette party in the corner, she nearly jumped out of her skin, as a hand sneaked out and gave her rear a firm squeeze, an undignified squeak left her mouth and she turned, only to see Grabby Hands McGee standing there a pleased grin on his face.

She was more than a little ticked off, especially since she’d made it a point to not walk by the table he was sitting at, which meant he must’ve gone out of his way to get up and harass her.

“For the last time, keep your hands to yourself sir,” she practically growled at him.

“Ah come on woman you know you like it,” he leered at her.

“Let me make things very clear, I do not enjoy being harassed by men old enough to be my father, don’t touch me again,” she ordered angrily and stalked off before he had a chance to respond.

Apparently he wasn’t listening though because the next time she was out from behind the bar again, he did the exact same thing. At this point she had absolutely had it, she was done putting up with this. She whirled on her heel and decked the man, sending him reeling back in shock.

Around them the patrons who’d seen fell quiet as they noticed what had happened. She didn’t consider herself a violent person by nature but he’d more than had it coming for a good long while now, and she had some serious frustrations to vent.

“For the last time, keep your disgusting, filthy old man hands off me and the other girls! You’re nothing but a creep! No one likes your attention here and if you don’t back the hell off I’m gonna make your regret it!” she shouted angrily.

“You tell him (name)!” one of the other waitresses shouted eagerly, into the silence of the bar.

“You hit me!” Grabby stated in shocked surprise, more than a little slow on the uptake, though whether it was from the alcohol or if it was a natural state of being for him she didn’t know.

“And I’ll damn well do it again if you keep trying to cop a feel asshole,” she growled right back.

“You stupid bitch!” he sneered at her, apparently recovering at least some form of wit, “I’m going to make you regret this!”

“Yeah, right, you keep telling yourself that,” she told him flatly, “My suggestion? Go home, sober up, and don’t come back.”

“Get out, get out, get out!” she didn’t know where the chant started from, probably one of the waitresses but the rest of the bar quickly picked it up, and suddenly it’s being shouted from all sides.

Apparently Grabby saw he was outnumbered, sneered at her one last time, and threw a glare around the room at the other patrons, before storming out the door. His exit is greeted by a cheer, and she heaved a sigh of relief before heading back to the bar, at not having to deal with him anymore tonight.

For the rest of the shift she was treated as a hero by the rest of the other waitresses, and though the boss does try to lecture, both waitresses and patrons who are happy to stand up for her quickly shoot him down. She’s pretty popular here with the nicer regulars, and so in the end she gets off with a light warning, much to her relief.

Luckily she didn’t have to stay much longer after that, and so after getting one last round of celebratory hugs from the other girls, she grabbed her coat and purse and headed out into the night.

…~oO*Oo~…

Ace breathed a sigh of relief when she finally emerged from the bar, and climbed to his feet, shaking his fur to rid his limbs of the numbness that comes from sitting in one place for too long.

He waited a few seconds before going to follow her, not wanting her to spot him, and it’s a good thing he did, because as she’s walking past the alley on the other side of the street, a dark shadow peels away from it and starts trailing her. His hackles rose, and he felt a low growl starting in his throat as he realized it was a man.

Moving quickly he made it to their side of the street, and its very clear that the man is following his (name). All his instincts encouraged him to jump in immediately, but reason held him place, silently dogging their footsteps.

He couldn’t just attack the man out of the blue, because then (name) would see him, which would completely ruin every effort he’d put in at this point to leave without her noticing. He was hoping against hope that the man would give it up and walk away, or that (name) would notice and take off running, so he could intercept the man without her noticing.

Unfortunately he was a bit too far away when the man finally did decide to attack. From his spot he saw the man swiftly run forward and knock (name) to the ground. His superior eyesight caught the silver glint of a weapon in the moonlight, as the two went down in a tangle of limbs.

He didn’t even think about it, his body, which had been coiled tight like a spring shot forward, a furious snarling howl escaped from his lips as he lunged at the man on top of (name). The force knocked him completely off and sent the two of them tumbling away from her.

The scent of blood was in the air, the man’s blood, but also the coppery scent of her blood, and it sent every instinct screaming at him to destroy this man, to rip his throat out and tear him to shreds, but somehow he managed to hold back. Partly because the man was unconscious having knocked his head hard when Ace tackled him off (name), but more importantly because (name) is wounded, bleeding, and might need him.

He turned to look at her and found her utterly shell-shocked, but sitting up, and seeming mostly fine except for a decent sized gash across her cheek. He knew this was the moment, the moment he should turn and run away, before she had time to gather herself, and start doing things like asking questions.

“F-Freckles?” she asked hesitantly, her voice trembling slightly, “What-What are you doing here love?”

He let out a small whine of unhappiness at how shaky she sounded, her normally fierce eyes blown wide with shock, and he wanted to comfort her, he did, but he has to go, has to go right now.

“A-are you okay baby? Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you did he?” the first question was shaky but she quickly got her wits back, crawling over to him. Her shirt and the skirt she wore were torn, and covered in dirt, and she was still bleeding from the slice to the cheek, and apparently all she could think about was his safety.

Trembling hands checked him over, and upon seeing he was fine, that none of the blood was his, all the man’s she threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his fur and shaking hard. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” the words were a wobbly litany in his ear as she clutched on to him as hard as she possibly could, and he couldn’t leave, he just couldn’t because she needed him. She needed him to comfort her to protect her because what would’ve happened?

What would’ve happened to her if he hadn’t been here tonight? Would she have been raped? Beaten? murdered? The answer apparently was all three.

He listened intently from his spot by (name) as the police officer, who she’d gathered the wits to call, told her how lucky she was. Apparently “Grabby Hands McGee” was actually an on the run serial rapist and murderer, who liked to beat and rape the women beforehand.

By all rights she probably should’ve died tonight, would’ve died tonight if he hadn’t been there, and the officer tell her so as she’s getting her cheek sewn up by the paramedic. He told her how fortunate she was to have a dog to protect her, to get him away from her, and her answer is clear as day, and it cements what he’d already known. 

He couldn’t leave, not anymore. He was too tied to her, and so until she made him go, she would always have him, because all she said as the policeman tried to impress upon her again how lucky she was all she said was…

“I know. I know, but it’s all going to be okay because I have my Freckles to protect me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry it took so long for this update to come out! Life kind of got in the way and between work and running around like a headless chicken trying to get myself a new car I didn't have the time or energy to write. To make it up to you I'm thinking if I have time next week I'll post some previews on other things I'm working on! We'll just have to see!


	5. Chapter 5

“So let me get this straight ~yoi,” Marco began trying not to reach over and strangle the two pack members standing in front of him, “The last time anyone saw Ace, which mind you was two weeks ago, was on the full moon when you two idiots decide to prank him and drop him off at a local animal shelter, and you’re just telling us about it now why?!”

“We thought it was going to be like normal,” Thatch told him miserably, “Where Ace lays low for a bit in preparation for a payback prank, when a few days turned into a week we thought he might’ve gotten upset for some reason and went to visit his brother without telling us again, and decided to give him his privacy, until he cooled down, but Sabo called today to ask why Ace had missed their monthly phone call.”

“After that we tried everyone we could think of that Ace might be hiding out with, Luffy, the Spades, Oars Junior, everyone, but no one has seen hide nor hair of him,” Haruta admitted equally miserably.

Marco wanted to snap at them, to reach out and just shake them until they realized the severity of this situation, but he couldn’t not when both looked like they’d been crying for a good long while now, their eyes red rimmed and puffy.

Frankly at this point best-case scenario was that Ace was well and truly pissed at them and never wanted to return to the pack, worst-case scenario was one of two things, that for some reason the shelter they’d dropped him in decided to euthanize their brother, or they’d somehow discovered the Werewolf secret and had reported him to the government. 

Sure there were plenty of Weres in the government, including several in their pack but that didn’t mean they could know everything that happened. Even now Ace could be in some secret government facility being tested and held in captivity and none of them would ever know it. Grinding his teeth in frustration he glanced back at his Alpha, his pops, who was looking more grave than Marco had ever seen.

“We need to find out what happened to Ace, immediately,” Whitebeard ordered glancing over the assembled pack who had been brought together when Thatch and Haruta had declared the need for an emergency meeting. The weight of his Voice settled over the extremely large gathering and had every Were sitting up and paying attention.

“Those of you with Government positions, start asking around as discreetly as you can, the rest of you who can be spared from regular duties, hit the streets, go to Haruta or the Spades for a list of Ace’s favorite haunts, we need to find my son, one way or another he will be brought back safely, good hunting,” Whitebeard ordered firmly, initiating the Pack hunt song, and then turning to Marco.

“Marco, take Thatch and find out what happened at that animal shelter, be discreet, call me with any news,” Pops ordered firmly.

He nodded and gestured to Thatch, setting off at a jog for his car with his fellow Beta at his heels. The two of them climbed into the car together, and Marco quickly navigated them off of Pack grounds, with Thatch giving him instructions on how to get to the animal shelter they’d dropped Ace at. Luckily it wasn’t too far away.

“Well?” Thatch asked miserably sitting in the passenger seat his face in his hands after several long minutes of unhappy silence.

“Well what?” Marco asked levelly knowing exactly what Thatch was asking but determined to make him work for it.

“My lecture?” Thatch asked with a slightly hysterical laugh, “The one about how I’m a reckless, careless idiot who’s probably gotten my brother killed or worse.”

“I thought about it,” Marco informed him tersely, “But it seems to me you’re doing a good enough job at beating yourself up without me adding in my two cents, and I figure once we get back Izo will be the one to flay strips from your hide.”

“Besides you can’t think like that, not yet, we have to think positive, and focus on getting Ace back, probably pissed as hell but alive, so work on that,” Marco ordered firmly. He may be a Beta and unable to use the Voice of Alphas but generally when he gave an order the rest of the Pack hopped to it and Thatch was no different.

He quickly pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed his eyes, then blew his nose. Doing his best to look presentable as Marco turned into the drive for the animal shelter, and both men stepped out of the car steeling themselves for the worst, as they walked together into the building.

However neither expected what they found there. The receptionist, a friendly lady who judging from how aroused she smelled was quite interested in Marco was more than happy to tell them about the big black brute of a dog who’d come through the shelter a couple weeks ago.

It turned out Ace had been up to all sorts of mischief, terrorizing the staff during his stay, and apparently being quite grumpy. Not that Marco could blame him, he’d be pretty grumpy too if he came off a nice evening drinking with his brothers to find himself locked in the cages of an animal shelter with what was probably a really nasty hangover.

He’d had his heart in his throat when she admitted they’d planned on using tranquilizers on Ace so they could put him down. It was his nightmare scenario, but luckily he maintained his composure and the woman went on to tell him about the strange woman they’d had come through the shelter.

Apparently the secretary was convinced she was some kind of dog whisperer, because she’d seemingly calmed Ace right down, and he’d followed on her heels docile as a lamb when they left the shelter. Marco barely fought a snort at the thought of Ace anywhere near docile, but contained himself, trying not to sag in relief the way he saw Thatch doing in the corner of his eye.

Ace had gotten out, the question was, if he’d escaped the animal shelter where the hell was he? He shouldn’t have had a problem escaping the woman and coming home, unless she’d done something to him?

He felt a little bad at using the secretary’s attraction to him to get the woman who’d adopted Ace’s address out of her, but it was necessary. It was the only lead they had after all. Luckily she’d bought his story about Ace being one of his escaped guard dogs and his need to get him back, and had been more than happy to turn over the woman’s address.

A quick call to Pops and they were back in the car heading for the street she’d listed on the adoption form, with Pops’ blessing. It was a bit of a drive and Marco was surprised to find himself in the shadier side of town, checking the address several times before deciding it had to be right.

Glancing at Thatch he received a nod in return and the two of them parked the car and approached the house. Discreetly he scented the air and was surprised to find Ace’s scent, relatively fresh and strong coming from the SUV parked in the driveway.

Trading looks with Thatch Marco decided the best way for now at least was also the most straightforward, calmly making his way up the drive he stopped on the front stoop and rang the bell.

…~oO*Oo~…

The last two weeks had been a measure of masochism Ace wasn’t even aware he could stand. Being around her everyday, waking in her arms, eating the food she offered, and enjoying her touch as she kissed his face and ran her hands all over him, calling him sweet pet names and basking in her love and attention was the most amazing thing he’d ever experienced, but also the most gut wrenching.

The guilt of her not knowing what he was, while still basking in the warmth she offered him so freely was tearing him up. He shouldn’t be staying but he couldn’t bring himself to go either, and the more time he spent with her, the more he came to enjoy every little thing about her, from the way she talked to him like a person, to her open, giving personality, to the way she sang and danced around the room when she thought no one but he could see, and her scent, god her scent was the most amazing thing he’d ever smelled. He soaked it all up, waiting, balanced on the knife’s edge for when it would all be taken away from him. Surprisingly it didn’t come in the way he’d been expecting.

The sound of the doorbell ringing jerked him out of his daily debate about how long to wait after his (name) had left until he could safely go after her, following her from the shadows sometimes in his wolf form and sometimes as a man to make sure she got to and from work safely.

Curiously he padded over to the door, and sniffed, wondering what sort of person would be on the other side. The familiar scent nearly made his brain short circuit for a moment before he took another deep breath to confirm that yes, two of his pack brothers were waiting outside the door.

Without any hesitation he shifted back and undid the latch opening the door for them eagerly. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed them in the past two weeks.

“Marco! Thatch!” he greeted enthusiastically, his voice slightly hoarse from two weeks of only making noise in his wolf form, “What are you guys doing here?”

He was nearly knocked over as both his brothers rushed him hugging him tightly and pressing chaste familial kisses to his cheeks rubbing their scent on him and checking him for injuries. Finding none they pulled back, though Thatch refused to let go of his arm looking surprisingly teary eyed.

“What are we doing here? What the hell Ace?! What are you doing here? Do you even know how worried we’ve been?!” Marco demanded incredulously, after a few moments silence.

“Worried?” Ace asked confused.

“Yes worried!” Marco snapped flashing his teeth in clear frustration, “You literally vanished off the face of the Earth with no contact for nearly two weeks! Everybody’s literally out searching for you as we speak! What the hell is going on! You’re obviously not captive here so why haven’t you come home yet or at least contacted us to let us know you were okay?!”

“I forgot,” Ace told him guiltily, lowering his eyes in submission away from the angry Beta’s despite knowing his designation outranked Marco’s because he knew he was in the wrong.

“Forgot?!” Marco practically vibrated in outrage, “You forgot about us? About your family? Your pack?”

“No!” Ace snapped immediately, “No of course not. I just forget sometimes that you’ll worry. Me and Sabo and Lu never had to contact anyone before not even each other really, we always just sort of knew the other two were okay, an it’s not like anyone else cared really.”

He could see Marco visibly softening, as he always did whenever Ace’s less than stellar upbringing was brought up. Marco could act as tough as he wanted, but Ace had realized, slowly but surely that Marco cared deeply for the pack and everyone in it, and was a bit of a mother hen at heart despite his tough exterior.

“So what made you forget?” Thatch asked speaking up for the first time.

“I, well not here okay? Come in for a sec,” he told them, gesturing for them to move further inside the house and shutting the door behind them before dropping on to the couch and watching as the other two made themselves comfortable.

He watched them look around and glanced around himself, smiling at the familiar sight of the homey room. He knew the outside of the building looked fairly run down, but the inside was warm and inviting (name) had worked really hard to make it that way.

He knew some wouldn’t like it, none of the furniture matched, and some of the things had nicks or dents in them, but to him it made the place feel lived in. The warm touches like blankets over the back of the couch, fun mismatched coasters on the coffee table, fluffy pillows and random artwork, including a wolf howling at a moon that she’d found at the flea market she’d taken him to last week, and the smell of her lingering in every surface made the place feel like home.

“Well?” Marco prompted concern clear on his features, “let’s hear it.”

Ace told them everything. About his antics at the kennel, the tranquilizers and this crazy, fierce woman who acted more like a wolf than a human with the Voice of an Alpha, despite being one hundred percent human. How he’d allowed her to bring him home, how she fed, and touched and loved him. How her scent was like crack to him, an addiction he couldn’t kick. How he felt the fierce need to protect her from anyone and everyone.

He told them about how he’d tried to leave, fought so hard to get up and go home, but couldn’t bear to break her heart and chose to break his own instead. How he’d agonized over his decision every day. How he’d wondered every moment if she could be safely changed, if she’d even want to be. About the attack that made up his mind that he would never leave her, not until she asked him to go.

When he finished he felt extremely relieved, pleased to have someone to share his burdens with at last, someone who could understand his dilemma and his fears.

“Sounds like you’re in love,” Thatch remarked carefully, looking more than a little awed.

“Love?” Ace repeated surprised. He’d never actually thought of it in those terms, not when it came to himself. He knew she loved him, or well loved Freckles, but he’d never thought he returned those feelings.

“You want to give up everything for her, sounds like love to me,” Thatch told him gently.

“Do you want to mate with her?” Marco asked him seriously, “It sounds like you’ve already started the process.”

He’d never thought about it quite like that, but Marco was right, technically he had started. He’d more than allowed her courtship rights, and was dangerously overprotective of her, just the same way his Alpha brothers were of their mates.

The thought of (name) as his mate, a thought he hadn’t allowed himself to have if he was honest, filled his mind. He could see her by his side, looking at him with those loving eyes for the rest of his life, it was almost too easy to picture it, and as if he’d opened the floodgates more thoughts and ideas flashed through his mind.

(Name) with his mark on her neck, (name) going through heats with him, having her over, under and beside him, and (name) round with their pups. The thoughts caught him off guard, along with the sheer amount of want that came with them. A soft keening whine left his mouth before he could stop it, and he could see his Pack brothers exchanging looks.

“We could manage it Ace,” Marco told him firmly, “You know there’ve been Pack who’ve fallen for humans before, and if you were worried about it Pops could do the change. He’d love to do that for you, to give you a mate. We’d just need to talk to her and…”

Ace was shaking his head already and staring at his brothers with pleading eyes, “I can’t Marco, I can’t. I’ve lied to her, she doesn’t know what I am, she thinks I’m a dog! Her dog! I tricked her and she’d never forgive or accept that, she certainly wouldn’t want me around as her mate, and even if she did by some miracle, there’s always the Moon Madness to worry about and I can’t risk it. I can’t risk her, I just can’t.”

“What are you going to do then?” Marco asked reasonably, as both his brothers eyed him sympathetically, “You can’t stay here like this Ace. She’s bound to figure you out eventually and then what?”

As if to punctuate his statement, the doorknob rattled and all three men jerked towards the door. Ace could feel the blood draining out of his face as a familiar voice called out, “Frecks? Freckles I’m home! Where are you baby?”

She wasn’t supposed to home, not now, not for several hours. This couldn’t be happening. There was no time to move, no time to shift, no time to do anything other than stare in horror as the door swung open and (name) came through only to stop short at the sight of three strange men all seated in her living room.

Ace waited for something, as her eyes darted around from face to face, screaming, panicking, anger, something. What he wasn’t expecting was for her fierce green blue gaze to settle on him and go wide with recognition and shock.

“You? Frecks?” she babbled staring at him, “I dreamed… Wolf and then man… you… ouch!”

The last was yelped in shock as she pinched herself and Ace winced in sympathy frozen in his seat and unable to move. He wanted to do something, anything to calm down the panic that was beginning to rise in her face, but he couldn’t seem to bring his body to move.

…~oO*Oo~…

(Name) stared at the oh so familiar face on her couch, the one that had swum in and out of her dreams since she’d first brought Freckles home from the shelter. It was stupid, illogical, and completely impossible, but he had the same eyes as the dog who’d been living in her home for the last two weeks.

She’d already tried pinching herself, to make sure she wasn’t dreaming, but she wasn’t sure even she could dream up something this crazy.

“Miss,” a blond man called pulling her attention away from the handsome silver eyed male sitting in Freckles’ favorite seat on the couch, “I’m sorry to intrude in your house without permission. I promise we mean you no harm. We were just looking for our friend.”

“My dog, or man? Mandog?” she tried to clarify gesturing vaguely at the man on the couch.

“Werewolf actually,” the third man, a redhead with a ridiculous hairstyle informed her with a smile.

“Thatch!” the blond hissed glaring fiercely at his friend.

“What? The cat was already out of the bag, and it certainly wasn’t going back in by not letting her in on the proper terminology,” the redhead, Thatch protested.

“Werewolf?” she repeated in a squeak that had everyone looking at her again as she tried to get that information to compute. She felt a little dizzy and lightheaded.

“Miss, are you alright?” the blond asked concerned.

She couldn’t help it, she laughed, and she knew it sounded more than a bit hysterical by the alarmed glances the three men shot each other as she tried to calm herself, but couldn’t. The blond rose from his seat and moved toward her, and she flinched away at the same time a voice snarled, _“Don’t touch her Marco.”_

The blond, Marco immediately froze and slowly backed away his eyes going to the guy who’d been her dog, and then skittering away, as he carefully sat back down where he’d been before. There was something about those words, the way they were said, there was a weight to them she didn’t quite understand as they hung heavy in the air. She turned to look at him, taking in the tense body posture, the fierce silver-eyed glare and the way his lips were curling in a snarl, baring his teeth. It was an expression she recognized, though a bit jarring on a human face.

“You really are Freckles aren’t you?” she blurted slightly awed but also extremely wary. His gaze immediately snapped to hers and the snarl fell from his face, as his eyes met hers searching for something as a distressed and extremely familiar whine left his lips.

“You… what the hell are you doing here? Why were you pretending to be my dog?” she was surprised at the amount of anger she’d managed to muster into that statement despite still trying to digest that all this was even possible. He whined again looking worried, and unsure.

“It was my fault,” Thatch admitted coming to his friends rescue apparently and successfully redirecting her attention.

The whole story came spilling from his lips, how he and his other brother Haruta had been pranking Ace when they left him at the shelter, and how Werewolves weren’t supposed to reveal themselves to humans, and a bit more about werewolves that frankly she didn’t even hear as one piece of information in particular stuck out to her.

“A prank?” she repeated in a flat, low voice that made all three males turn worried gazes on her, and Thatch to immediately clam up again, “You took him there as a prank?!”

“Do you even realize what could have happened to him? Did you think it through for even a second?” she demanded of Thatch, in that same flat, icy voice, her eyes locked with his. He seemed to be frozen, unable to look away from her, his face very pale.

“They were talking about euthanizing him as I came in,” she informed him her eyes boring into his, “The only reason he’s still alive is because I took him with me. Fun fact, as I was filling out my adoption paperwork one of the shelter workers was trying to convince me not to take him, not because he was dangerous, no because he was different. He’d never seen a dog or wolf like that before and he was sure he could make a thousand bucks selling him to his zoologist friend. He didn’t even have to be alive, after all the friend was hoping to dissect him, so dead was actually preferable.”

“He kept trying to buy me off, offering me a cut of the money to get me to choose another dog, offering every single one in the shelter and even his own. Lucky for you I refused, and when he got pushy I shouted out about harassment and broke his nose as several of his coworkers came running in. He was fired on the spot, but that’s not the moral of the story,” she told him icily.

“No the moral of the story is, you and your idiot friend almost got someone you claim to care about killed and dissected, and might have even blown the secret of your existence wide open for a prank,” the last bit was hissed out as Thatch shrank back and away a pitiful whimper leaving his mouth as his eyes dropped away and his neck arched in submission, the guilt on his face and in his eyes easy to read she turned back to her dog, “And you.”

“What were you doing then? A continuation of your friend’s prank?” she demanded, her icy composure breaking and a snarl on her face as she took an aggressive step toward him, “Was this funny to you? Well?”

“No!” he yelped immediately, his silver eyes widening, “No (name) I swear. I never… I didn’t want to hurt you.”

The pitiful whine at the end of that sentence tugged her heartstrings, but she hardened herself and gave him the fiercest glare she could manage, “Too late for that now.”

He stared up at her and slowly got to his feet reaching for her, and she could see pain in his face and eyes, and recognized the gesture, even in human form as her Freckles wanting to be pet, to be touched and reassured, but he wasn’t her dog, and she refused. She was angry, hurt and confused.

_“NO!”_ the word cut through the room like a knife and her heart clenched as he flinched away from her, agony dancing through those expressive silver eyes of his, but she couldn’t give in, she was hurting too and she deserved an explanation, _“Explain, now!”_

He stumbled back down on to the couch, as if her words had, had physical force behind them, nearly falling into his seat, his large body, over six foot tall, broad shouldered and heavily muscled curling in on itself, as he huddled into a ball his face dropping into his hands.

“I didn’t know how to leave,” he told her, his voice clear despite hiding his face, and filled with agony, “I tried, I tried so many times, but every time something held me back, I didn’t want you to get in trouble, didn’t want you to come looking for me in this neighborhood where someone might hurt you.”

“I almost left, that first night you went to work. I could have, but I got worried about you walking home at night so I followed, just, just to make sure you were safe. It was, it felt like the only thing I could do to repay you for your kindness, but then, then that man attacked you and you said you felt safe when I was with you and I couldn’t,” he choked on the whine that seemed to force its way past his lips.

“I couldn’t leave you unprotected, but I didn’t really want to leave either,” he admitted hunching further in on himself as if it would protect him from the words he was about to say, “I didn’t want to leave, because it was the first time someone loved me like that, without preconceptions or expectations, and I wanted it, I wanted you to love me like that so bad, but it was killing me, because you loved me, but you didn’t love _me_. You loved Freckles the dog, not Ace the man and I, I just wanted…”

Her head swirled in a wash of confusion, anger, hurt and betrayal and she wasn’t sure what to do, or where to turn as her former dog sat huddled on the couch, with two strangers looking on. A part of her wanted to go to him, to hold him, to soothe him because this was obviously hurting him, but the other part wanted to scream at him, to rant and rage and rail at him. 

Only one thing was clear at the moment, one thought, and that was that she needed space, space and time to sort out how she felt about all this. It was only fair. After all one minute she was coming home from work, having been allowed to leave early as it was shaping into a slow night looking forward to curling up with her dog on the couch to watch a movie, and the next she was discovering her dog wasn’t a dog and werewolves were real, and one had been living in her house, under her nose for the past two weeks.

“I think you need to leave,” she was surprised at how level her voice came out.

His head popped up immediately in surprise, his face filled with anguish as distressed whimpers fell from his lips in a torrent.

“I need to think,” she said firmly refusing to give in to the lethal puppy dog eyes he was leveling at her, “And you need to go.”

“Come on,” Marco cajoled when Ace made no move to go anywhere getting to his feet, and dragging Thatch with him, “She’s right, the Pack is worried about you Ace and waiting for an update on if we found you or not. Besides I think the lady deserves her space for now.”

His face softened as he looked at her former pet who hadn’t moved from the couch, “I’ll go grab some spare clothes for you from the car Ace, give you some time to say your goodbyes.”

That said he pulled a compliant Thatch out of the house, closing the door behind him, leaving her alone with her former pet. He looked completely wrecked and absolutely miserable, and in his dejected posture she could see the dog she’d come to love with everything she had, which prompted her to speak.

“You saved my life,” she told him quietly, prompting his head to lift and for him to stare at her with wide eyes, “Thank you.”

“I didn’t,” he told her, his voice raspy with emotion, “I’ve ruined your life. I’m sorry, so, so, so sorry.”

“I don’t see how you could have ruined it, sure you lied to me, but I’ll in all likelihood get over it,” she assured him with a brittle smile.

“You don’t understand, there are laws governing our society,” he told her his tone low and suddenly very urgent, as his gaze darted toward the door his friends had exited, “Humans aren’t allowed to know about us.”

“So you’re saying what exactly?” she asked incredulously and suddenly very wary, “That they’ll try to kill me? I’m not going to tell anyone. Who the hell would believe me anyway?”

“Some Packs might’ve tried to kill you yes,” he admitted anxiously, “But ours isn’t like that. We don’t kill humans unless they attack us first. No our Pack is much more likely to try to turn you.”

“Turn me?” she demanded both nervous and a bit afraid, “What into a Werewolf like you?”

He nodded solemnly and she gaped at him, then demanded, “So what? In turn for saving your life I get mine taken away?”

He flinched as if she’d slapped him, but slowly nodded.

“And I don’t get any say at all,” she stated flatly her ire rising once more, “What if I don’t want to be a Werewolf?”

“You don’t then?” he asked carefully, “Want to be turned?”

“No!” she snapped angrily, not even pausing to think about it.

She was surprised then, to see him straighten himself out, and when he looked at her again his face was filled with determination, a strange glint in his eyes as he looked at her, then nodded to himself, “Alright then. I’ll make sure you aren’t turned.”

“Excuse me?” she asked incredulously, “Didn’t you just say it was against the law not to have me turned?”

“It is, but, just like you said you saved my life, this is the very least I could do for you, and it looks like the only thing I can do for you,” he told her with a sad smile.

“I… thank you?” she said hesitantly, not exactly sure what to say. Watching, baffled, as he bent down and scribbled something on to the pad sitting on her coffee table.

“I should be the one thanking you,” he told her, that same sad but determined smile on his face, “For taking good care of me.”

The words ‘for loving me’ hung in the air between them unspoken but understood nonetheless.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly but sincerely, “Sorry for the trouble I caused you, sorry for hurting you, sorry for lying to you, just, just sorry. Except I can’t bring myself to be sorry it happened, because meeting you, meeting you was something special, something that I’ll treasure.”

“That’s my cell phone number, on the pad there, if, if you ever need me, or, or just want to call,” he told her softly.

A sharp knock on the door interrupted whatever she might’ve said in return, and Marco came back in, handing off a shirt and shorts to Ace. Realizing for the first time that he was completely buck naked she whirled away from him cheeks burning in shock.

She could see the slight amusement on Marco’s face out of the corner of her eye, but didn’t turn back around until the cloth stopped rustling. He was looking at her again, with those sad silver eyes, and made an aborted movement to reach for her but stopped short apparently unable to find words as he just stared at her unhappily.

“Thank you for taking care of him,” Marco told her apparently taking control of the conversation, gently taking hold of Ace’s arm and guiding him towards the door, “The Whitebeard Pack owes you a great debt.”

She nodded at him politely and followed them a few steps behind and waited until they were out of her house.

“We’ll be in touch,” Marco informed her, giving her a final nod of recognition as she closed the door behind them, shutting them out.

Out of habit she flicked the lock shut, and then slowly let her legs give out from under her, as she attempted to process everything that had just happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys sorry for the wait! I got a little distracted by some other stories! Stories that I will be posting shortly after updating all of these, so if you've got the time and inclination please check them out! :)  
> Also I've made myself a tumblr account under the same name EvenescentTranquility, mostly so I can tumblr stalk some of my favorite authors, but if you've got questions, comments, critiques, suggestions, or just want to be friends, feel free to hit me up over there. If people are interested enough I might even post previews of things over there :).


	6. Chapter 6

Marco had thought Ace had maybe gotten himself together until the sound of the lock in the door behind them clicked shut. The devastation on his brother’s face was something he’d never wanted to see. He could practically feel Ace’s anguish and his heart twisted in sympathy, as he supported him back to his car, helping him climb into the backseat.

Ace looked like his entire world had been torn out from under him as he twisted in his seat, getting up on his hands and knees to peer out the back window, watching the house they’d left until they turned the corner and were out of sight. Then he slumped back down, curling into a defeated ball.

Marco exchanged anxious glances with Thatch. Neither of them had ever seen Ace act like this, so defeated and hurt and vulnerable, not even when he’d gotten his baby Alpha butt kicked by their Pops every other day for almost six months. He knew it was because of the human girl, and he wanted to be angry, furious on behalf of his brother, but he couldn’t.

He couldn’t dredge up a single ounce of anger because it wasn’t her fault, not even close, and he’d seen the lost look on her face as she’d closed the door behind them and locked them out. He had a feeling she was hurting just as much as Ace was right now.

Thatch wasn’t any better, his face a myriad of guilt and anguish as he kept constant watch on Ace in the back seat, probably to reassure himself he was still there. He couldn’t blame him, he kept checking back on his brother too. They had come so close to losing him, too close. If it hadn’t been for her…

Neither of them so much as twitched as he placed a quick call to Pops to let him know he could call of the search for Ace, he was safe with them and on the way home. However when Pops had asked about Ace’s condition he hadn’t known what to say, physically Ace was fine, better than fine even, but mentally and emotionally? Luckily as always Pops seemed to understand and told him they’d talk about it when they got home.

They’d had quite an audience when they arrived, everyone anxious to see and scent their missing brother, just to assure themselves he was alive and unhurt, but it quickly became apparent that Ace wasn’t okay, and he didn’t want to talk to anyone. He didn’t even acknowledge Haruta who come to apologize, who wouldn’t stop apologizing to no avail.

Fortunately Pops quickly cleared the room of all but those closest to Ace and his division commanders, and then demanded a report from Marco, as Ace stood, tight lipped and blank faced by his side.

Marco told him everything, every little detail he could remember, including everything they’d learned at the animal shelter both from (name), from the secretary, and from Ace himself. Then he told him all about (name) about her interesting scent and the fact that she could use the Voice of an Alpha despite being human and force even Ace, an Alpha and a powerful one, to obey her.

A lot of them were curious about her scent, that still clung to Ace, but he refused to allow anyone to get close to him, not wanting to let them scent mark him and take that last piece of her away. Marco did his best to describe it, but it wasn’t something that lent itself to words very well.

Ace had said the smell was like a drug to him, and while Marco hadn’t found it that addictive he had found it extremely pleasant, one of the best he’d ever gotten whiff of. Interestingly enough when asked Thatch told them he thought the scent was nice enough, but nothing special.

Marco had a feeling he knew what that meant, and from the understanding looks on the faces of the others around, his fellow wolves, so did they. While Werewolves were both wolf and man, they tended to rely a lot more on their other senses, hearing and smell than normal humans did. Even in human form these senses were several times better than the human average, and some Werewolves were even more gifted than the norm.

Scent, and scent marking in a Werewolf pack was an integral part of Pack life. Scent marking generally meant sharing scent, by rubbing glands against one another, which was generally considered an affectionate move that solidified bonds between pack members. It was considered strange to not share scent when meeting up with pack members on the day to day.

Thus every pack had an underlying scent outside of their own unique scent, that helped others identify which pack they belonged to. That Ace was refusing to accept the others’ scent marks after being separated from (name) was an extremely telling sign.

The other sign was of course how good she smelled to him. Every single living being had its own unique scent. In a pack of Werewolves this meant that every member could be identified without sight or sound. No one was entirely sure why, though some theorized about pheromones, but either way certain Werewolves tended to smell more appealing based on the person. In other words someone who might smell just okay or even disgusting to one Were could smell amazing to another.

Studies in their communities had found that with Werewolves who mated with another whose scent appealed greatly to them tended to be overall happier and to have healthier pups. Basically the better they smelled the better the mate. That (name) had smelled so good to Ace that he couldn’t really bear to leave her, meant that she was an extraordinarily good match for him.

This was more than a bit surprising, because for whatever reason humans tended to have weaker and less appealing scents than fellow Werewolves. That (name) was human and smelled that good to Ace should’ve been impossible, that she also appealed to Marco was even more unlikely still, though admittedly the appeal for him wasn’t nearly as strong as it was for Ace.

“So she knows about us then?” Jozu asked breaking Marco out of his thoughts.

“Depends about what you mean by us,” Thatch hedged carefully, not wanting to upset Ace further or get him into trouble, “Does she know Ace is a Werewolf? Yes absolutely, could she guess about me and Marco? Probably. Could she find out about the Pack in general? No I don’t think so, she doesn’t have last names for any of us, or the name of our Pack, and I don’t think she paid any sort of attention to Marco’s car. Honestly I think she was in shock for most of it, she didn’t ask any questions about Werewolves just about Ace.”

“The question is what are we going to do about her now that she knows,” Izo pointed out rationally.

That certainly got Ace’s attention for the first time since returning home. His head jerked up and he looked at everyone suspicious and angry. Standing so close to him Marco could smell the anxiety and the anger on him, and hastened to assure his brother.

“No one is going to hurt her,” he told Ace carefully, “She saved your life, and treated you very well, we owe her a debt for that.”

“The best option is of course to turn her,” his Pops mused aloud, only to be cut off by a ferocious snarl, and everyone turned to look at Ace in shock.

“You won’t touch her!” the force of his Alpha Voice rang through the pack gathering, the force in it sending even Marco reeling, the same way it had before back in (Name’s) home, “I’ll kill you first.”

Everyone flat out gaped at Ace, caught completely off guard. Partially because he’d used his Alpha Voice, something that, because of his father, he absolutely despised using and tried to avoid at all costs, and partially because Ace had threatened all of them, including Pops, who was their Alpha.

It was a direct challenge, one that some Alphas would fight him to the death over, but Pops wasn’t like other Alphas and Ace had challenged him before, back when Pops was trying to convince him to join their family. However Marco had thought they were past that point. Ace hadn’t actually challenged Pops in over a year now, and he’d thought Ace had settled into their family, but perhaps not.

His Pops leaned forward in the chair he used during their Pack meetings, more of a throne than anything else so he could look Ace dead in the eye, and asked gently, “Does she mean that much to you son?”

“She saved me,” Ace told him, holding his gaze and refusing to back down, “And she doesn’t want to be turned. I asked, she said no. I won’t let anyone force her. I won’t let anyone touch her. I-I care about her and I won’t let anything happen to her.”

From Ace, who even now had a hard time talking about his feelings or expressing his affections to anyone except his little brother Luffy, it was like shouting from the rooftops for all to hear how much he cared about this human girl. Glancing at his Pops he saw their Alpha had come to the same conclusion he had. Ace had fallen, hard and fast and it was even more glaringly obvious than it had been before. It wasn’t just the scent, that kept Ace from leaving. His brother was in love.

The ironclad realization was more than a bit shocking. He’d never thought it would happen. Ace’s childhood had been pretty much abysmal, full of neglect and abuse, with the only bright lights coming in the form of his two brothers Sabo and Luffy. If it hadn’t been for them Marco dreaded to think that what would’ve become of his beloved brother.

Even with their influence Ace didn’t trust easily or often. It was only through six months of gentle love and persistence that Pops had gotten even the beginnings of trust from Ace, longer still for Marco and Ace’s other close friends to earn more than wary looks and suspicious glares.

It wasn’t that he didn’t think Ace capable of love, it was just he never thought he’d be open enough to trusting someone that he’d be able to even consider the idea. His theory had only gained more credence when talks with Ace’s former pack the Spades, and both his brothers showed that Ace had never, ever been interested in anyone in that way.

Now here he was head over heels in love with a human girl after only two weeks and Marco felt like the world had tipped a bit on its axis. Despite feeling more than a bit unbalanced though, Marco knew one thing for certain. They had to somehow convince (name) to agree to be changed.

Ace deserved to have a mate, he deserved to have someone he could love and trust and share those intimate special moments that only occurred between mates with. He deserved to be shown he could be loved. 

If Ace had ever shown an interest in any of the other Weres around Marco would’ve pounced on the opportunity to make him happy. He wasn’t about to do any less even though the mate Ace had chosen for himself was human, and carefully ignored the part of himself that had always wanted to see if maybe he could make Ace happy.

His gut told him that this might be his brother’s one and only chance for a mate, and he wasn’t going to waste it. The key here was going to be (name). They were going to have to gain her trust and her agreement to be turned for Ace’s sake, but it would have to be done slowly, slowly and carefully so that when she agreed no one would have any doubts that she’d done it of her own free will, free of any tricks or coercion. Otherwise he was sure Ace would never forgive them.

Meeting his Pop’s eyes he could see his Alpha having the exact same thoughts as he was, and he gave him the tiniest of nods in acknowledgment, that said they’d be speaking more on this later, for now though Ace had to be appeased.

“Very well,” Whitebeard told Ace firmly, his tone gentle and kind before gazing out at the assembled pack members, “No one is to attempt to turn Ace’s (name).”

Glancing around he could see that a good majority of the listeners including Thatch who was looking directly at Marco for confirmation had heard the unspoken “yet” at the end of Pops’ sentence. He nodded once to Thatch in verification and saw him nod in return a rare serious look on his face, that meant his brother would be going about this new task very seriously. As the only other Were who’d met (name) it was good to have him onboard with the plan to make her Ace’s mate.

For now though the use of Pops’ Alpha voice meant that none of those listening would go against the order, either because they physically couldn’t now or because of their respect for their Alpha. He could see Ace’s shoulders relax slightly, and was close enough to hear the mumbled, “Thanks Pops.”

Whitebeard gently pet Ace’s head, careful not to cover the scent marks left over from (name) so as to not distress Ace further, and then dismissed the group to go back to whatever they were doing before the meeting had been called.

Ace left quietly refusing to look or speak to anyone, probably wanting to get some time to himself, as he’d headed in the direction of his rooms. Marco just hoped he would be able to pull his brother out of his funk sooner than later. It hurt to see him looking so torn up over this.

That left just Pops, Thatch, and Izo in the room. He wanted to say he was surprised Izo was there, but really he wasn’t. Izo could smell plotting a mile away, he kind of had to be able to with Thatch as his mate. Frankly his rather effeminate Beta brother would probably be very useful in helping them figure out how to sway (name) around to their way of thinking.

Pops let out a groan and leaned back in his chair, taking a deep swig of the sake he kept in a bottle near the base for moments like these before glancing at all three of them as he set the bottle down again and swiped the back of his hand over his mouth, his eyes boring into each of them in turn before settling on Marco.

“Alright son,” he said seriously, “Tell me everything you remember about this (name) our Ace is in love with.”

…~oO*Oo~…

It was…quiet without Freckles, Ace, Freckles, whatever around. Quiet and strange, she kept calling out to him, asking him questions or encouraging him to come see her only to realize he wasn’t there. She felt more than a bit lost honestly.

Coming to terms with Werewolves had taken her quite a bit of time, and while technically she hadn’t seen him shift into his other form with her own eyes, she had seen more than enough proof. After all his eyes were extremely unique, along with the sound of his voice, as he made animal noises, which had been unmistakable even in human form. 

Plus, she was fairly sure she’d seen him before, that first morning she’d had him, hiding under her bed. His transformation must have worn off in the night or something, which was enough to make her face heat in embarrassment.

She knew she was a cuddler when she slept. Kaya had teased her about it a lot back when they used to have sleepovers, which meant she had undoubtedly cuddled him, and if the state of him when she got home was any indication it’d been done with him completely in the nude.

She wanted to be furious at that. It was strange, wrong, and creepy for a naked man to sleep in bed with an ignorant woman unaware of his presence. However some part of her didn’t feel like he meant any harm by it, he wasn’t trying to hurt her or force his presence on her he had just wanted to be close to her. It was nearly platonic.

The fact of the matter was Ace, Freckles, whatever his name was! Had made her feel safe. His mere presence had brought her a lot of comfort, which made it hard muster the energy to be angry at him, especially if he was being truthful about staying to protect her. 

That he had saved her life from the man who’d meant to rape and kill her was undeniable, and lent credence to his claim of protecting her. Without him there, there was no doubt in her mind she would’ve died. He was also correct in saying that if he had left at any point she would’ve gone looking for him.

She couldn’t imagine the pain she would’ve felt wandering around searching for her lost pet as she blamed herself for his absence. It would’ve been terrible to lose her beloved dog, and likely dangerous for her to be roaming this particular neighborhood at night to be looking for him, which was when he would’ve had to leave in order to avoid giving himself away.

The more she thought about it the more she could see it from his point of view, the problem was that it still hurt. She’d trusted him, and loved him unconditionally, and it had apparently all been a lie. She didn’t know him, couldn’t know him, not the way he’d probably gotten to know her, because he was pretending to be a dog at the time.

Despite that though she couldn’t help missing him. His number was programmed into her cell phone and several times she’d almost picked up the phone to call him, to ask how he was doing, to question him about Werewolves, to learn more about him, but each time she’d talked herself out of it. Her feelings were still too confused for her to be able to talk to him.

It didn’t help that she found his human form extremely attractive. He been just like he’d appeared in her dreams, with broad shoulders, sculpted muscles, and a swoon worthy face. She just hoped against hope he didn’t know about those dreams, because some of them had been more than a little inappropriate to be having about someone she didn’t know.

She hadn’t had any of those raunchier dreams since he’d left, but she had dreamed of him a couple of times. Mostly it had been of him staring at her with hurt silver eyes, reaching desperately for her even as she remained stone cold and unmoving. Several times she’d woken in the middle of the night her arms reaching for something that wasn’t there.

It certainly hadn’t helped her sleep cycle any, especially not when those dreams came mixed in with nightmares of the nights she was attacked. It was strange, she actually hadn’t had nightmares about it until after he left. She figured it was probably because she’d felt so safe with him.

She certainly didn’t feel nearly as safe with him gone. She’d formed several paranoid habits in his absence, often double and triple checking the locks on the doors and windows, and carrying pepper spray with her in a death grip on her way to and from work. She tended to jump at small noises and startle when people came up behind her without warning.

All of this meant she was pretty skittish during the day, and her coworkers and the others she interacted with regularly had definitely noticed and been concerned. She brushed them off with a forcedly cheerful smile and missed him more than ever. She had the feeling if she just picked up the phone he’d come running, but she couldn’t do that, not to herself and not to him either, and promised herself it wasn’t just her pride speaking.

Normally she would probably have talked to Kaya about everything, but she couldn’t. He’d said the existence of Werewolves was supposed to be a secret and hinted that people had in fact been killed for it. There was no way she’d endanger her friend like that.

Kaya did her best to comfort her with what little she knew, but that only made (name) feel worse because she’d had to lie to her about it. She’d told her friend that Freckle’s owners had tracked her down and had taken the dog back, which was why she no longer had him.

Her friend had been outraged on her behalf and had promised if she wanted she would do everything in her considerable power to get the dog back for her because obviously these previous owners couldn’t be nearly as good as she was. She’d felt even worse as she dug herself deeper into the lie, assuring Kaya that they were extremely loving owners and had only lost her Freckles due to an extremely unfortunate accident.

She tried to justify it a bit, by giving as many true details as she could, citing Thatch and Marco as Freckles’ owners, and saying they’d even left contact information for her just in case she ever wanted to come visit and see him again. Kaya had been appeased, but it still made her feel sick to her stomach to lie to her like that.

Luckily she didn’t have to hide the details of her attack from Kaya, who she hadn’t told about it yet because her friend had been out of the country for a while on business. Kaya had, unsurprisingly, been furious with her for not telling her sooner. 

The minute she had though Kaya had put down everything and came rushing over, to see for herself that (name) was uninjured, which was the reason she hadn’t told Kaya in the first place. She didn’t want her friend putting her life on hold for her. She was a busy woman with more important things to do.

Needless to say Kaya had not been impressed with that line of reasoning, and had insisted on staying the night with her. The two of them had taken the chance to get caught up with each other, and Kaya had apologized once again for Klahadore’s behavior at the Grocery Store. Luckily her friend was firmly on her side in this, and had managed to talk her parents around to her view as well.

Klahadore hadn’t been fired, but it had been a close thing, and she had felt rather vindicated about it. Honestly she felt it couldn’t happen to a better person. Surprisingly Kaya was much more willing to hear her speak poorly about the butler now. Apparently lately she’d felt like something was off with him, since the Grocery Store Incident, but she couldn’t out her finger on what.

(Name) warned her friend to be careful. She hadn’t ever liked Klahadore and never would. She got the feeling he could be extremely dangerous and something about him made her hackles rise. She urged her friend to be cautious about investigating him and Kaya agreed that she would be.

In turn for Kaya’s honesty about Kuro (name) had shared her sleep troubles with her friend. The first tactic she’d tried was of course to get another dog, but (name) didn’t have the heart to do it. While technically Freckles had never really been her dog it had still felt that way, and in a way she had lost him, she didn’t feel up to replacing him and wasn’t sure she ever would.

Luckily Kaya had been sympathetic and understanding, instead offering her teas and meditation techniques that she’d found helped her over the years. Their talk eventually devolved into normal girly chatter and that night she’d slept better than she had since he’d left.

Unfortunately Kaya had, had to head out again the next day to a business meeting but had promised to keep in touch better, and made her promise to do the same. She hadn’t gotten much sleep since.

She really wished she could stop missing him.

…~oO*Oo~…

Thatch hummed to himself as he worked on making the dough that would need to rise overnight in order to be ready for breakfast tomorrow, his mind on (name) and in turn on Ace. He was worried about his brother, who didn’t seem nearly as energetic or hungry of late.

He was spending a lot of time on his own, running around the territory, doing patrols, and sparring with anyone who cared to take him on. Thatch knew he was probably dealing with his grief at being forced to leave (name), kicked out of her house and essentially rejected, as best he could, but it wasn’t enough for him.

He wanted to see his brother smile again, and to do that they needed to get (name) on board with becoming a Werewolf and mating with Ace. He, Marco, Pops and Izo had a plan, but unfortunately step one of that plan was to give her space to digest everything she’d inadvertently learned.

Thatch liked to believe that he had many virtues but patience had never been one of them. They weren’t planning on having anyone approach her again for another couple of days at least, and it wasn’t even him they were intending to send, but Marco.

He got that, that made sense. After all Pops couldn’t exactly go himself and Marco was his right hand. Plus he’d be a familiar face for (name). He understood all that, but it didn’t mean he had to like it. He wanted to do something to help his brother damnit! And apparently he wasn’t the only one.

“So she really was something special huh?” his brother asked interested, “I mean I suppose she’d have to be to catch the Commander’s attention.”

Thatch nodded in agreement, offering the man a grin, “She certainly seemed interesting, not that I got to talk to her a whole lot.”

Teach offered him a grin in return, showing off his gap toothed smile, “She’ll make one hell of a werewolf! That’s for sure.”

Teach had actually come in about an hour ago to talk to Thatch, surprising him. It was pretty late after all, and not many people were awake. Hell Thatch was only awake because he had volunteered to finish the dough for tomorrow’s breakfast in exchange for not having to get up early and actually cook it.

His brother had explained how he was worried about Ace, all of them were, but the second division, which was technically under Ace’s command, especially. After all he was their Commander and the first Alpha they were supposed to go to with their problems.

Thatch honestly shouldn’t have been surprised that one of them had approached with questions about the human girl who’d captured Ace’s heart. He’d done his best to reassure the man, on what little information he had, that she was definitely worthy of the commander.

Teach had, had all sorts of questions about her, the kinds of questions a concerned brother would ask. Was she nice? Was she pretty? Those kinds of things, but he was also really curious about her Alpha Voice. 

He hadn’t actually been there for the debriefing, as he’d still been out looking for Ace and hadn’t returned in time, but he’d heard about it from the others who had been there. He’d apparently wanted to confirm the rumors for himself, which Thatch was happy to do for him.

The second division member had been suitably impressed by the power of her Voice. After all it wasn’t just anyone who could stop Ace in his tracks, Thatch could only think of a handful, and all of them were male Alpha Werewolves, and not small human females.

The two of them had joked that she’d need that voice to keep a leash on Ace when they got together. Laughing about Ace’s wild ideas and pranks that they’d borne witness to since he’d joined them. Thatch had taken comfort in the fact that his brother thought that winning over (name) for Ace was a done deal.

If he was honest with himself he was more than a little worried about it, especially since this whole thing had started off on the entirely wrong foot, and frankly he felt more than a bit responsible for it. After all it was his fault, his prank, that had resulted in Ace pretending to be her dog and her hurt feelings over it.

However he was determined to make it up to them. He’d spent a lot of time bouncing thoughts off his mate Izo on how to do just that, and felt a lot better for having some ideas ready to go when Pops and Marco gave the go ahead for others to approach her.

He was so caught up in his thoughts about how to get the two of them together, and so comfortable in his brother’s presence he didn’t think twice about showing the man his back as he bent to put the dough in the warming drawer so it would rise.

His first and only indication that something wasn’t right was the explosion of pain as teeth ripped into his neck, and he went down in a pile of flailing limbs, as he desperately tried to shift into his wolf form for some protection. He only managed to get a half shift done though, unable to focus through the pain.

He stared up at the man he’d thought of as Pack, as brother as he smirked down at him, already feeling the taint of an Alpha’s bite burning through his veins, which was supposed to be impossible because as far as he knew Teach was supposed to be a Beta. A low whine escaping his throat as he tried to find the words to ask why, to try to understand why he’d been attacked by someone he’d loved and trusted.

Teach seemed to understand though despite his inability to form words and shrugged at him, “Sorry bout this Thatchy, but I can’t let them come after me right away, and like this you’ll be a good distraction as they try to save you. It should give me just enough time for a date with Ace’s little Alpha girlfriend.”

So saying he took a few steps back and sent up a howl that would bring others running. He heard clattering all around him, and he could faintly hear Teach tell those that had entered the room that a strange Alpha had appeared and attacked him, and that he’d gotten bitten. That he (Teach) would go after the Alpha, before leaving the room at a sprint.

All the while Thatch lay unmoving on the floor, unable to vocalize except for pained whines as he tried to warn them, tried to tell them what had happened, order them to go get Ace and tell him to protect his girl, but he couldn’t.

The best he could manage was a pained garble, that only vaguely sounded like Ace’s name, then (Name’s) thanks to his inhuman lips, teeth and tongue before succumbing to the pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Sorry this took so long, it's been a really busy couple of weeks. I wanted to take a second and thank everyone who left comments/Kudos/bookmarked/subscribed to this fic you guys are awesome! I also want to thank everyone who followed me over on Tumblr under the username EvenescentTranquility. I've had a couple of really great conversations with people over there and really appreciate the feedback they've given as well.
> 
> I hope you're enjoying it! Sorry for the cliffhanger, but it was going to happen sometime... :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair Warning! Lots of violence in this chapter! Don't like don't read!

(Name) lay awake in her bed, clad only in a tank top and shorts in an attempt to keep cool. Summer had apparently decided to come early, and the last few days had been unseasonably warm. Still she had been reluctant to turn her air conditioning on, it was only late April, so it might still get cold again.

Between the heat and her racing thoughts she couldn’t seem to fall asleep despite the late hour. Her thoughts, as per usual of late, were on Ace/Freckles. She wondered how he was doing, if he was missing her, the way she was missing him. Once more she’d almost given in and called today.

She’d been standing at the stove, making dinner, and had needed something from the freezer, which she didn’t use often because she preferred to make her food fresh. Upon opening it she’d immediately spotted the huge frozen bags of homemade dog food she’d made, all neatly labeled with the contents and how much she thought he’d liked them.

For a moment all of her had ached, and her eyes had begun to water as she stared at the food. It was completely and utterly stupid how much she was missing him, he wasn’t a dog, he was a human, werewolf, whatever, and she hadn’t even had him that long, hadn’t known him, not really, and yet she missed him. He’d wriggled his way into her life and carved out a place for himself that felt empty now.

Her hand had reached for her phone, and she’d slipped through her contacts until she found his number, his name had been highlighted and her finger hovering over the call button for a second before she’d gotten hold of herself again. She was being ridiculous.

She didn’t need to call him. She didn’t need him. She was strong, independent, and capable. They were practically strangers anyway, and he was a werewolf with a pack who didn’t need her. Hell now that he was home he probably hadn’t even thought of her since he’d left nearly a week and a half ago.

A part of her knew that wasn’t true, tried to remind her of the devastated expression on his face as he’d left, the way he’d reached for her, still seemed to reach for her in her nightmares. She shoved that part ruthlessly down, repeating to herself that he didn’t need or want her, and she didn’t need or want him either until she’d had the willpower to put her phone away. 

It didn’t make things any easier though as she deliberately made herself throw all the food away, and take it out to the garbage outside. Still she had done it, reassuring herself that it was the right thing to do. She needed to move on from this and forget her strange bout with the supernatural ever happened, forget him and everything associated with him for her own safety and peace of mind.

After all she’d told him she didn’t want to be turned, and she stood by that decision. She had no proof that they wouldn’t still come after her, but despite everything she trusted him to at least keep her safe from his pack, no matter what.

Heaving a sigh she turned over in her bed, praying to get some sleep. She was exhausted, and it was beginning to affect her work, her boss had actually sent her home early tonight because she’d nearly fallen asleep on the job. Luckily it had only been a moment of compassion rather than her getting in trouble. He’d been very empathetic since her attack, and she got the feeling he felt partially responsible for it, as he’d never tried to curb Grabby-hands’ behavior.

The house creaked around her and she stiffened, heart racing in fright even as she tried to convince herself she was being stupid again. She was still jumpy, especially at night, It was completely idiotic and paranoid, but she couldn’t help herself.

Sitting up slowly in her bed, she reached for the two items she’d taken to keeping on her nightstand, her cell phone and a can of pepper spray. The pepper spray had been Kaya’s idea to help make her feel safer, and it had been a good one. Still it was times like these she really, really missed her Freckles. He would’ve known and warned her in an instant if there was someone in the house.

Anxiously she clutched both items to her chest, straining her ears. She could hear what sounded like faint shuffling noises, and it might’ve been the wind, it might’ve been nothing, but it still sent fear and adrenalin spiking through her as she got up out of the bed, and moved to a corner of the room where she wouldn’t be as visible.

Unfortunately she couldn’t exactly go into the bathroom as it had no windows through which she could escape if there really was someone in her house. Another sound had her reaching for her phone, flicking through the contacts and dialing without a thought as she brought the phone to her ear and waited for an answer.

…~oO*Oo~…

Marco sat in nervous silence with his Pops and the other Division Commanders as they waited for word on what was happening with Thatch. No one was sure what was going on.

From what he had managed to gather, those closest had been called to the scene of the attack by Teach, a beta from the Second Division. The responders were a bit uncertain, but from what they remembered Teach had said Thatch had been under attack by some strange Alpha, not one of their pack, who had taken off running when Teach arrived.

Unfortunately Teach had then taken off himself in pursuit before anyone could advise him against it, and no one could go with because they were too busy tending to Thatch and calling for more help. Those first responders had confirmed that Thatch had indeed been bitten by a strange Alpha, which was why he was in so much danger right now.

Biting in a werewolf pack was very different from what one might think, in part because there was more than one kind of bite. The first and most frequent was play biting, little nips and nibbles that occurred when playing or during a spar. These kinds of bites were done completely clean, with no intention to do anything.

The second kind of biting was meant to be between mates and lovers. This was much more sensual, and it was done with a bite to the neck with the intention to mark that person forever as your mate. The bite was filled with enzymes that would initiate a bond between the two of them that could never be broken. It brought the pair extremely close, and they tended to be able to do things like sense the other’s location, and sometimes if the bond was close enough, share their emotions and thoughts without the need to speak aloud. This bite had to be consensual and mutual or it wouldn’t work.

The third kind of biting was a turning bite. This did exactly as the name suggested, it turned a human into a werewolf. It also generally took place on the neck, though anywhere would do. It also initiated a bit of a bond between the biter and the bitten. It allowed the biter some control over the newly turned werewolf, which was thought to be a precautionary thing, just in case the moon madness took them and they needed to be brought down. Which of course is why born werewolves had no need for that bond and thus didn’t have one.

The last and final bite was an Alpha bite, which also had to be placed on the neck in order to work, this was the kind of bite used to make unruly pack members submit. As the name implied it could only be performed by Alphas. Usually what happened with the Alpha bite was the wolf being bitten submitted to the Alpha, and the Alpha let go and soothed the bite with their tongue to get the effects to stop.

However sometimes, like when a turned wolf came down with moon madness, the wolf wouldn’t submit. In that case the bite continued to get more and more painful until it completely debilitated or killed the bitten wolf. Thatch’s case was different, cases like his were exceptionally rare, in this case the Alpha in question had used the Alpha bite with the intention of causing him pain, and so there would be no soothing it.

Unfortunately the bite of an Alpha had to be soothed by the Alpha who gave it to stop its effects completely. This in itself would’ve been bad enough in Thatch’s case, but when help had arrived not only had he had an Alpha bite, but his neck had practically been ripped open, blood spattered everywhere.

The only reason he wasn’t dead already was because the bonds between a Were and his mate, and a Were and his chosen Alpha allowed their saliva to have healing properties. Izo had been one of the first on the scene, and Pops had been close on his heels. Between the two of them they’d managed to keep Thatch from bleeding out, the problem was now dealing with the bite.

The best way to deal with this under normal circumstances would actually be to kill the Alpha who caused the bite. For reasons still unknown to them, when the Alpha who initiated a hostile bite like this was killed all the enzymes, which were what was actually causing the pain, from the bite died along with the Alpha, curing its effects.

Unfortunately when they’d gone to track Teach who was tracking the Alpha the trail had gone cold. There was nothing they could do now except pray for a miracle and hope another one of their brothers wouldn’t be killed tonight for his recklessness.

Marco’s hands clenched in helpless frustration, if only Teach had been able to leave behind a trail for them to follow! They could be out there hunting down the bastard who did this together, and not be sitting here at the Pack medical waiting anxiously for some kind of word either from Thatch or Teach.

The sound of a cell phone going off was so loud in the silence of the room that he jumped, and he wasn’t the only one, a distinct crunching noise told him at least one of his brothers had broken the chair they were sitting on in their surprise. Glancing around he saw Ace, hurriedly fumbling with his phone.

Hope rose in his chest. Ace was Teach’s Division Commander, admittedly one would think he’d call Pops or Marco first, but Ace was still a logical choice.

“Hello?” Ace asked anxiously.

“Frecks, Ace, it’s me,” thanks to the quiet of the room, and enhanced Werewolf senses despite the fact that the voice was extremely soft they could all hear it.

Under normal circumstances, where Thatch’s life wasn’t on the line along with another of their brothers he would’ve been thrilled to hear that specific voice from that particular phone. He was still glad for his brother, but he had hoped it had been someone else. Still it would be nice if this were an indication of things working out without their intervention. He sure as hell could use some good news right now.

“(Name?)” Ace questioned, a slight wobble in his voice, that would’ve gone undetected through the phone, but that Marco could hear loud and clear. He could also see understanding dawn on the faces of the rest of the Commanders, and even Pops and Izo looked interested, though their eyes didn’t waiver from the door that Thatch was behind with the best doctors the Pack had.

“I’m sorry, this is stupid, I don’t even know why I’m calling you,” she told Ace, her voice loud and clear to the whole room, and Marco couldn’t help flinching for his brother at the words, that certainly wasn’t as promising as he could’ve hoped. However Ace must’ve heard something different than he had because something in his face went hard.

“(Name), (Name), tell me what’s wrong,” Ace ordered gently cutting through the babble.

“I think, I think someone might be in my house,” she said so quietly Marco had to strain to hear it, “It might be that I’m paranoid, but I just… Look I know it can’t be that guy okay that you saved me from because he’s in prison and they would’ve told me or it would’ve been on the news or something if he got out but…”

“I just, I think I hear things, but then maybe it’s just the wind, and it’s stupid and I’m scared and you’re not here and I can’t…” she trailed off her voice quiet and frightened and nothing like he’d have expected to hear from her after how strong she’d been when he’d last seen her.

Ace looked up helplessly at Pops, and Marco could see him practically vibrating with need. He needed to go to her, to see her, to make sure she was okay, but at the same time he didn’t want to leave Thatch. Pops opened his mouth, likely to tell Ace to go as there was nothing he could really do here, when a sharp gasp of fright, followed by a different voice filtered though the phone, even clearer than her hushed whisper had been.

“Well girlie, now what are you doin’ up so late?” shock flooded his system and turned him still as a statue as he realized he recognized that voice, “And just who are you talkin’ to?” 

“None of your goddamn business, who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house?!” her voice was strong now, with none of the fear it had held moments before, and he had to admire her bravado.

“Name’s Teach girlie, Marshall D. Teach,” the other voice announced confirming Marco’s suspicions, even as dread curdled in his stomach, as a terrible theory began to form in his mind, “I’m part of your pal Ace’s pack, and as for what I’m doing here, well I’m here to turn ya ain’t I? After all no humans are allowed to know bout Weres unless they get turned.”

“Ace promised me I didn’t have to,” she informed Teach icily.

“Yes well, Ace isn’t really going to have a say in this, besides he’s a little busy at the moment,” Teach announced, and Marco could practically hear the smugness in his voice.

“Busy with what?” she asked suspiciously.

“Oh he’s probably looking for me, that or trying to hunt down the mysterious Alpha who attacked Thatch,” he told her casually.

“Attacked Thatch? The redhead? What the hell did you do to him?” she demanded, apparently angry on his brother’s behalf.

“Eh, just a little bite, was sorry to do it, but I needed the distraction. I had to find you after all,” he said confirming all of Marco’s worst fears in a single sentence. Anger, betrayal and shocked disbelief flooded his system, because this couldn’t be happening right? Had one of their brothers, someone they’d taken into their pack and loved like family, deliberately set out to kill another brother? A family member? Normally he wouldn’t have dreamed it could get any worse than that, only it was still going, Teach was still talking.

“Me? What do you want from me?” she asked sounding completely and utterly confused, but Marco was pretty sure he knew, he felt ill just thinking about it.

“I was told you had a very unique gift,” Teach informed him with a laugh, “I’m just here to appropriate its’ use.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she told him honestly.

“You wouldn’t, and it doesn’t really matter, all that matters is that you’ll soon be using it for my benefit.”

“I won’t,” she spat defiantly, and once more Marco had to admire her guts. He’d seen her before, she wasn’t exactly an Amazon in stature to start with and Teach was a huge guy and a werewolf to boot, more than capable of overpowering her. Yet there she was holding her ground and mouthing off to him, “Get the hell out of my house!”

“No, I don’t think I will, and as for what you’ll do, well, you won’t have a choice,” Teach informed her with a relish that made Marco want to vomit, because how would they have not seen this? How could he have betrayed them like this? How could they not notice someone amongst them who was sick enough to be hinting at committing the biggest taboo Werewolf society had?

“You see there’s this thing, when a new werewolf gets turned by another, that creates a bond, and it’s a fairly tight one, that will allow the werewolf who turned the new one a degree of control, but when that bite is combined with what we call the Alpha’s bite, a bite that forces members of the Pack to submit, it creates an even greater degree of control, so much so that orders given can’t be disobeyed,” Teach explained, confirming Marco’s greatest fears. In the background he could hear his brothers and his Pops all snarling and growling in anger at what they were hearing.

Ace was dead silent though, completely white beneath his freckles and the most terrified Marco had ever seen him. He couldn’t blame him, the only person Ace had ever considered mating with was going to be turned against her will and trained into a weapon probably to wield specifically against Ace.

In a sick sort of sense Marco had to admire his strategy, because it was pretty much flawless. This wasn’t going to end well, not for her, not for Ace, not for any of them.

“Ace is going to kill you, when your pack finds out about this they’ll rip you to shreds,” she hissed, though he could hear just a tremor of fear in her voice.

“But that’s the thing! They won’t be able to! With you on my side Ace won’t be able to touch me, because you’ll be there to protect me, and with that gift of yours together with a few people I’ve been meaning to sway to our side or turn, the Whitebeard Pack won’t be able to fight us. Don’t think poor Ace would be able to lift a finger against his love, and I don’t think he’d take it well if any of the others did either,” Teach explained tauntingly, but apparently he’d pushed just a little too far.

_“You will not touch Ace,”_ she snarled, her voice more animal than human, and the force of her Alpha command rocked through the room despite being filtered through the phone.

Several of the Commanders reeled in shock, and Haruta actually yipped in surprise. He couldn’t imagine what that had been like up close and personal, probably something like Pops when he went full command, and wasn’t that a terrifying thought, because his Pops was an experienced older Alpha werewolf, and she was still just a human girl.

Would her gift get stronger with her turning? He couldn’t imagine that kind of power leveled against them. Only Pops and maybe a handful of others would even be able to fight it off.

Over the phone breathless laughter, that grew louder by the second reached their ears, “Amazin! Never seen anything like you girlie, but I think that’s enough chattin, best to get this show on the road, just in case.”

There was a shocked gasp, and a low snarl and it became clear Teach had shifted, the sound of the phone hitting the floor, and a growling bark was the last thing they heard, as the connection was broken.

Ace was shifting and out the door before any of them could recover from their shock, his own phone hitting the floor, shattering on impact.

“Go with him,” their Pops spat out quickly, “Back him up, save her if you can, kill Teach.”

Marco nodded and raced out the door, with more than half the commanders at his heels. Unfortunately neither Pops nor Izo could come incase Thatch’s situation got worse and he needed them to help heal again. However if they could just kill Teach, everything would be fine, at least he hoped so, for all their sakes.

…~oO*Oo~…

Instinct kicked in, and as the large black wolf who looked nothing like her sweet Freckles lunged at her she brought the can of Mace up and sprayed. She’d bought the best stuff available on the market, and it had a spray radius of up to twenty feet, so she didn’t actually need to hit him, but as it was she got him square in the face.

Unfortunately his momentum couldn’t be stopped at that point and his jaws closed on her neck. She screamed in pain, going down under the weight of the wolf, but it didn’t last very long as the wolf that called itself Teach tore his mouth away from her to howl in pain and rage. Struggling she managed to get herself out from underneath him, and hurriedly crawled away, pulling her tank up over her nose and mouth and keeping low to the ground to avoid the fine mist of the Mace spray still in the air.

Once she made it to the door she stumbled to her feet and took off down the hallway, hand pressed to her bleeding neck, that was slippery with blood, trying not to focus on the pain and instead focus on getting out of there. She stumbled, unable to keep her feet as her vision swam, pain was lancing out from the wound on her neck, and it felt as if molten lava had been poured into her veins.

A howl of rage behind her, made her force herself to keep moving. She needed to get away, to somewhere where someone could help her. She could hear loud thumps behind her, as the Werewolf made his own way down the hallway, running into the walls, unfortunately she knew while the pepper spray could impair his sight and sense of smell it wouldn’t do anything to his hearing.

Frantically she glanced around hoping for somewhere to hide, when her hazy eyes lit on the island and the counter behind it. Momentarily she was distracted by the memory of Freckles, his bulky body stuck between the two, unable to push through. It wasn’t much, but it was better than anything else she could think of.

Stumbling forward she fell to her hands and knees, unable to keep her balance with the pain spreading to her limbs. Blearily she crawled forward, determined to make it. She was almost there when a furious snarl wrent the air and teeth latched on to her left calf, the one part of her that hadn’t been behind the counter yet.

He’d found her. She screamed in pain as he tried to pull her out by her leg, and she grabbed hold of the handles of the cabinets, which gave way beneath the force, the door pulling completely off its hinges. Improvising she threw it as hard as she could at the Werewolf’s face. He yelped in surprise and let go, as it clocked him right in the nose.

Hurriedly she crawled forward into the space, pressing her back against the wall, and curling up into a ball desperately trying to make herself small, as pain from her shoulder and leg throbbed and her nerves were alight with fire. Her vision was hazy but through her bleary eyes she could see him through the gap.

He was lunging at her, over and over, trying to fit, but just like Freckles he couldn’t squeeze through the countertops seemed to splinter a bit, but they held firm underneath his onslaught. 

She nearly sobbed in relief. However she could still see him, see the rage in his bloodshot eyes, hear his panting, snarling growls, and the fury in his face. Maybe he had started out wanting to turn her, but it was clear now, at this moment he wanted nothing more than to kill her. Fortunately it seemed they were at a stalemate, she just had to hope and pray Freckles would be here soon, and that he was bringing back-up with him.

From inside her safe zone she could see him pacing back and forth, snarling furiously, his eyes locked on her huddled form. She thought, prayed, he might give up, but then something shifted in his eyes and he leaped, up on to the countertop, sending the array of things she had up there raining down on her head.

She screamed in fear, bringing her arms up to shield her face. She only barely had time to drop down on her back to avoid the snapping jaws from above closing down on her head. Laying below him she could see the madness in his face, and smell his putrid breath as flecks of drool spattered her face and he flattened himself, trying to get low enough to bite her, one paw slipped down and raked sharp nails over her arms that were shielding her face, and she could see him contemplating just allowing himself to fall between the cracks.

That couldn’t be allowed to happen, because as soon as that happened she was dead. Glancing around frantically her eyes fell on to the things that had fallen near her when he’d leapt on to the counter, as if in answer to her prayers, right beside her the large butcher knife she’d been using to cut vegetables for her dinner earlier had fallen close to her head.

Her hand wrapped around it, just as the Werewolf decided to go for broke and lunge downwards to hell with the consequences. She let out a fierce cry and stabbed upwards, embedding the knife deep into the Werewolf’s throat and yanking back harshly. Blood gushed, spattering all over her face and body, and she choked, coughed and screamed in horror, the knife falling from her limp fingers with a clatter, as the lifeless body fell forward on to her, forcing her down, driving the breath from her lungs.

The pain from the bites was becoming too much, she couldn’t think, couldn’t see, couldn’t focus, couldn’t breathe. The world felt strangely silent without the snarling from the Werewolf filling her ears. Somewhere in the distance she heard a loud _bang_ , but it was like she was underwater.

She didn’t know how much time had passed, but suddenly the wolf on top of her was moving. She wanted to be horrified, she’d thought for certain it was dead, that maybe she would live, but she didn’t have the energy to care. If she died now, she died and there was nothing she could do about it.

A voice was saying something, she could hear something that sounded vaguely like her name. Trying to focus her swimming vision as she felt her body being shifted, she finally managed to see a pair of familiar silver eyes staring down at her in what looked like shock and horror. She couldn’t even imagine the kind of mess she looked like right now, covered in blood, scraped and bruised.

She meant to say ‘Freckles! You came!’ but it came out more like, “Frecks, oo cay.”

She felt more than saw him press his forehead to hers, she could hear him saying things, but she couldn’t understand a word of it. Everything hurt, and despite his presence, despite how much she’d been wanting to see him, no matter what she’d told herself, she couldn’t keep her heavy eyelids from falling shut, succumbing to unconsciousness in his hold, knowing he’d keep her safe.

…~oO*Oo~…

Ace had never run so fast in his life. Everything around him was a blur as he focused everything he could on getting to her. Unfortunately he knew in his heart of hearts that he wouldn’t be fast enough, that Teach would bite her, that only a miracle would stop him from biting her, but he prayed, he prayed like he had never prayed before to whatever deity might be listening, that even if he bit her, he wouldn’t have enough time to get away with her.

If Ace could just kill him, then while his (Name) may still change she wouldn’t be under Teach’s control. He was too much of a realist to pray she wouldn’t get bitten at all, he knew life would never be that kind to him.

He just had to hope he could get Teach away from her before he caused her too much pain. He knew there would be a fight at the very least, his (name) was a fighter, but she was no match for a Werewolf. If she sparked Teach’s infamous temper well…

He pushed himself even faster, and didn’t bother to stop, ramming himself straight through the door, which splintered into pieces under his heavy frame. Landing in the living room he had to pause as shock and horror overtook him. (Name’s) beautiful scent was tinged heavy with fear and pain so thick it blanketed the room, but it wasn’t nearly enough to cover the heavy copper stench of blood.

He could see it everywhere, splashed on the walls and floors, heavy streaks and small pools. Furniture was overturned, knick-knacks shattered on the floor, the wolf painting he’d bought with her, lay face down, its glass glinting in the moonlight. It looked like a scene right out of a horror film.

The house was deadly silent, and his heart sank as he realized that must mean it was over. He’d thought Teach had meant to turn her, but something must have happened, because if there was this much blood, then he’d been trying to do something more, he’d been trying to hurt her, maybe even kill her.

A whine of anguish forced its way past his lips at the thought of his (name) dead in this house, dead because of him. It hurt, it hurt more than anything he’d ever experienced in his life, and a part of him wanted to allow his legs to buckle under him, give in to weakness and never move again, but another part of him, that was becoming more and more insistent was slowly coming to life, as a single thought sparked an inferno of rage in his mind, if she was dead, he was going to make Teach pay.

He would hunt the bastard to the ends of the earth if he had to, but one way or another his (name) would be avenged.

His vengeful thoughts were interrupted by a pained whimper, and he forced his locked limbs forward, stumbling through the quiet house and worked his way into the kitchen. What he saw made his blood boil. The menacing dark shape of Teach was lodged between the counter and the island, the same way he’d once been, though it looked like he’d gone at it from above and had fallen down between.

He nearly lunged forward, intent on ripping his traitorous former brother limb from limb, but then he realized that Teach wasn’t moving at all, not even the slightest twitch. Another low, pained groan filled the room, one that wasn’t a Werewolf, but a human.

Hope flared and, not caring for the consequences he shifted back into his human form, stumbling forward. He desperately tried to see past Teach, but his body was blocking the way, it was then he realized that, that’s all it was, a body. Teach was dead.

He didn’t allow himself to ponder that though, as he grabbed him by the fur, digging his fingers in and ripping him away from the space, throwing the body out of the way in an impressive show of strength, and there she was.

She was covered head to toe in blood, some of her own, and some likely Teach’s, but her eyes were open. She was alive.

“(Name), (Name!)” he called frantically, falling to his knees not caring at all that fallen cutlery stabbed into his unprotected legs. Carefully reaching for her, afraid to touch her, not knowing where she was injured. She was completely unresponsive though, even as he carefully shifted her, putting an arm behind her back and lifting her upwards, bracing her upper body into a sitting position.

Her eyes rolled in her skull and he thought she would faint, but they finally focused on him. He was surprised to see the softening in her face and the slight smile, as she slurred something that he managed to translate to, “Freckles you came!”

His breath hitched in his throat, making it hard for him to breathe, as he pressed his forehead to hers, desperately trying to take in her scent, wishing he could pull her safely into his arms, not sure what to do to help her and aching with guilt and fear, “Course I came, I would always come for you, you’re gonna be okay I promise. I promise, I’m gonna make you okay.”

Her breathing hitched, and he’d thought maybe she’d heard, but when he pulled back to look at her, he saw with horror that her eyes were shut. Frantically his hands searched for a pulse at her neck, and he breathed a sigh of relief as he found one, thready and weak though it was. However he also found the gaping ugly wound on her neck.

Instinctively he lowered his face to it, gently pressing his teeth in lightly, hoping against hope that somehow his bite could override what Teach had done to her, and initiate some kind of bond that would allow her to heal. The taste of her blood mixed with Teach’s nearly made him gag, but he refused to let go, beginning to lap at the wound with his tongue.

He felt tears coursing down his cheeks in relief but didn’t dare stop as he felt the flesh knitting closed under his tongue. When that was done he carefully lowered her, his hands tenderly checking her body for any other wounds. There were small scrapes and bruises, along with a nasty set of gashes in her right arm, and another huge bite on her left calf.

Carefully he laved those shut as best he could, knowing that Werewolf saliva wasn’t the be all end all cure for injuries, but praying it would be enough to save her life. There was just so much blood. When his job was complete. He allowed himself to sob, and gathered her still body up in his arms. Burying his face in the crook of her neck and just breathing, listening to the soft beat of her heart and feeling the slow shallow breaths she was taking.

She was in the process of changing now. Nothing he could’ve done would’ve stopped it. He just had to hope she survived the process with mind intact. He clutched her tight and rocked back and forth, as the guilt ate at him.

He’d promised her she wouldn’t have to turn, he’d promised her she’d be safe, and he’d failed, he’d failed so badly it was unthinkable. She’d nearly died, could still die, and she was changing because one of the people he considered pack, considered brother, had attacked her in her home, because of him.

Teach never would’ve known about her if not for him. She would’ve been safe, free to live a nice, normal, happy life. A small part of him tried to whisper, to remind him that she would’ve died that one time without him, but he refused to listen. This was all his fault, and he refused to believe otherwise.

A mournful howl left his lips, as he was unable to hold it back anymore. There was no guarantee that she would survive the change with the condition she was in, and even if she did the moon madness might still take her. If she died tonight or succumbed to the madness upon wakening and had to be put down Ace would never forgive himself, not ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's that! Thanks as always to those who left Kudos/Comments or Subscribed! :)


	8. Chapter 8

Honestly when they’d arrived on the scene and saw Ace clutching the limp form of (name) to his chest both of them covered in blood, Marco was sure she was dead. The way Ace was sobbing, something Marco had never once seen him do, and rocking back and forth, clutching her limp form hadn’t done anything to disabuse him of that notion.

He’d tried approaching Ace, tried to coax him into letting her go, into leaving this bloodstained, grisly scene and taking a breather but Ace had refused. He’d growled ferociously at anyone except Marco himself who tried to approach. Marco’s heart had nearly broken as he’d thought they’d lost him, lost Ace to madness and grief.

Luckily that hadn’t been the case. Jozu had managed to keep his phone on him through the shift and had called Pops, who’d arrived on the double now that Thatch was out of danger. It was the one good thing to come of this scene, the assurance that Thatch would live, well, that and Teach’s cooling corpse hurled into a corner of the room.

Pops had managed to convince Ace to pass her over, only after swearing over and over to be careful and respectful with her. All of them, including Pops had been shocked when a soft whine had left her lips at being handed over. Ace had immediately snatched her back, but some of their worry had been assuaged.

Ace hadn’t gone mad over seeing her dead, he was just protecting her as best he could. She was alive, by some kind of miracle she was alive, even as blood soaked and beaten as she looked she had survived.

He’d been shocked and more than a little awed. He never would’ve thought a small human girl would’ve survived the brutality of the kind of attack that destroyed her home, but she had. His respect for her, already fairly high for being so good to Ace while he’d been staying with her, raised several notches for her fighting spirit.

Pops managed to coax Ace into carrying her in his arms bridal style assuring him it wouldn’t hurt her, asking him questions so they could get her packed and out of this house. They would have to cover this all up somehow, the attack and Teach’s death could never be traced back to them or her, not when she was about to become a Werewolf herself. It would endanger all of them including her.

There was a good chance she would lose her home, since the best option in cases like this was to burn the entire thing to the ground. Luckily they’d had some practice at cover-ups over the years, and could pull the right strings to see this buried.

Hopefully she wouldn’t mind too much, after all it didn’t seem like she’d lived here long enough to form too much of an attachment, and they’d get everything they could out before setting the fire. She’d also be compensated for the house, the Whitebeard pack was a wealthy one, and more than able to make-up for having to burn it down.

Unfortunately they had a hell of a lot more to make up to her than just what they were about to do to her house. This whole thing, the fact that she had been attacked in the first place, was entirely their fault. It had been one of their pack members who’d done it, even if he hadn’t done it with any sort of permissions or blessings or even knowledge it was still unforgivable.

He just had to hope, for Ace’s sake that she would forgive both him and them because her turning was now inevitable thanks to Teach. His thoughts stalled at the thought of the traitor and he bit back a growl. He still couldn’t seem to fathom the depths of Teach’s betrayal, to him, to Ace, to his Alpha, to their pack. He just didn’t understand, they’d laughed, cried and fought together, all of them with him, they were a pack, how could you turn your back on your pack? It was against a werewolf’s nature! Then again Teach had been acting against his nature to start with, because he wasn’t the beta he’d always claimed to be, but an Alpha, which he hadn’t honestly believed was even possible until now.

He didn’t even want to think about what this betrayal was going to do to Pack dynamics. Would people start looking at each other with distrust now? Worried about being attacked while their back was turned? Such a thing happening in Whitebeard’s pack seemed completely unfathomable to him, and yet here they were, with undisputable evidence that it did happen, that it had happened, and that it could happen again.

Marco was distracted from his thoughts by Haruta, who’d made a strange strangled noise of shock. The Commanders who’d stayed behind after Whitebeard, and Ace had left to get (name) to the same hospital as Thatch, had been busy packing up the things Ace told them to bring in a duffle and preparing the rest as quickly as they could to be moved and stored. They hoped to get the place burnt to the ground before dawn to get rid of any of the evidence.

He’d been packing up the kitchen, while Jozu retrieved the personal things Ace had mentioned, and the others began packing, knowing the kitchen and living room were going to be the hardest spaces to stay in, saturated as they were with the scent of (Name’s) fear and blood, and Teach’s fury. His body was cooling in the corner they hadn’t bothered to move it from where it lay, figuring they’d burn it along with the house.

Haruta had insisted on joining him with his self-appointed task, and no amount of argument could change his mind. Marco could tell from the look on his face that guilt was eating at his brother, even more so than any of his other brothers except maybe Ace, because Haruta and Thatch had been the ones to inadvertently introduce (name) to Ace and thus bring her to the attention of the pack.

Unfortunately Marco couldn’t bring himself to comfort his brother effectively, because he was feeling his own measure of guilt. Even now he was questioning his decision to tell his Alpha about her ability with the Voice. Oh he still would’ve told Whitebeard, but he wouldn’t have done it with an audience if he’d had any idea he’d be painting a target on her back in doing so.

Still he wasn’t about to ignore the distressed noise of his brother, not with his instincts, which had been on edge since first learning of Thatch’s attack, still thrumming wildly under his skin. He was more than a little surprised, when he whirled around anxiously to check on his brother, to find him carefully prodding Teach’s body with the handle of a broom.

While he couldn’t fault him for not wanting to even touch the traitor, he did wonder just what the hell he thought he was doing. Why would he be touching the disgusting thing anyway?

The body shifted, and he watched as Haruta’s eyes widened in shock, his eyes glancing up to meet Marco’s before staring down at his discovery again, actually crouching down to get a better look, a mix of shock, awe, and utter disgust on his face.

“Haruta, what the hell are you doing ~yoi?” Marco half asked half demanded, stalking over to him, his curiosity.

“Look!” Haruta told him gesturing to Teach’s neck, which had been exposed by his prodding.

Marco grimaced in disgust and repulsion, it was easy to see what Haruta wanted him to look at, there was a huge bloody gash, obviously the cause of death in the traitor, obvious even through his dark matted fur. What wasn’t so obvious was why he wanted him to look, and he leveled a glare at his younger brother, clearly demanding an explanation.

“When I was packing the kitchen, I happened to notice some things, the patterns of the…” Haruta paused and grimaced but soldiered on grimly, “The blood over there, and I got to thinking, and then I saw the knife and… well just look at it! Does that look like teeth or claws to you?”

Marco glanced at the wound again with a frown, he wouldn’t say he was any sort of forensics expert or anything but he was extremely familiar with wolf inflicted injuries, and this definitely wasn’t one. But why would that…?

His thoughts stalled out as he realized that Ace, who had been first on the scene, would never have stopped to pick up a weapon of any sort if he managed to get here while Teach was attacking (name). There was no way in hell he would’ve shifted out of Werewolf form either, because on the whole it was much more sturdy and dangerous than the human one.

That meant that someone else had killed Teach, and given there were only two living people when the rest of them had arrived and ruling out Ace, who they’d all assumed had been the one to do it, that left one person.

The resulting curses brought his brothers running into the room, concern etched on all their faces. Haruta quickly explained what was going on, and Marco was caught between two states of mind, one, (Name) was even more impressive than he’d thought, and two they owed her one hell of an apology.

…~oO*Oo~…

Whitebeard stared down at the small figure on the bed, waiting, more anxious than he’d been in a long time about the awakening of a new werewolf. The Whitebeard Pack hadn’t actually turned anyone for five years, and didn’t tend to turn people in general unless they’d been chosen as mates by a member of the pack, or had accidentally discovered them.

Those turnings he had done had been under extremely controlled circumstances, and the person had been well educated in advance on what was going to happen to them to prevent any sort of panic. They also had all been willing. This situation couldn’t be more opposite from his past turnings, which was one of the many reasons why he had decided to oversee this last piece of it personally.

In addition Ace wouldn’t have allowed anyone else to do it. His Second Division Commander would’ve been here himself, but between the Pack Healthcare providers and Marco they’d managed to trick him into drinking some tea that had knocked him right out, which was a relief considering he’d been keeping vigil without food or rest for the past sixty some hours, and was on the verge of collapse.

They’d all agreed that it would be far better to force Ace to rest, and to keep him away from (name) when she finally woke just in case. There was no way in hell Ace would be okay with putting down (name) even if she woke with Moon Madness. None of them thought he’d be able to do it, and even if he could’ve they never would’ve allowed him to break himself like that.

Also, many of them worried that if she did wake Moon Mad, they wouldn’t be able to take her down, not if she still had the ability to use her Alpha Voice, one that had made even Marco obey before. They’d be like lambs to the slaughter if she used it on them, and if Marco couldn’t stand up to it, than Whitebeard himself was the only one strong enough to do so.

Finally and most importantly Newgate felt as if he owed the woman quite the debt. First she had taken in Ace and loved him fiercely if what Ace’s loyalty was any indication, had even saved his life, the life of his precious son, then she’d killed the traitor Teach, all by herself, and inadvertently saved Thatch as well, Thatch who was already up on his feet again alive and as well as he could be under the circumstances, when by all rights what Teach had done should’ve killed him and lastly because the responsibility for her brutal attack lay squarely at his feet.

Oh he knew several of his sons felt the same, and that Teach should in fact shoulder the majority of the blame, but Teach was dead and wouldn’t have cared either way, and he had been Teach’s Alpha, or so he had thought anyway. At the very least he had considered Teach part of his pack, and that he had not seen such darkness in a man he’d considered a son was galling to say the least.

The soft hitch in her breathing indicated her return to consciousness and he immediately focused all his attention on her. She stirred slightly, and her eyes flew open. She was up and out of the bed faster than he would’ve expected for someone so newly turned, and immediately she pressed her back into a corner of the room, her eyes darting around frantically before finally coming to rest on him, then widening in shock.

…~oO*Oo~…

(Name) was confused, one minute she’d been sure she was dying after being attacked by that mad Werewolf, and the next she had been waking up here in this strange room. She thought her Freckles might’ve been with her at some point, though she wasn’t all to clear about why she thought that.

The smell of antiseptics stung her nose and her eyes watered slightly, a part of her, a part she didn’t recognize was screaming at her to fight back, to protect herself, to do something, anything, and then her eyes locked on the man in the room with her. He was huge, well over six foot tall, with shoulders broad enough she could fit three of her across, with an extremely impressive white mustache. He looked older, though it was hard to get a good grasp on what his age might be considering how in shape he was.

Surprisingly despite his rather intimidating figure, she relaxed when she saw him, because frankly he couldn’t be further in appearance from the one who’d attacked her. While both had been rather tall, the one who’d called himself Teach had been more rotund than muscular, his eyes crazed and wild, with more beard than face, while this man had kinder eyes and was clean shaven but for the mustache. Hell his hair was even opposite, stark white as opposed to black. However he was still a stranger, which meant she wouldn’t be letting her guard down, not until she got some answers at the very least.

“Who the hell are you?!” she demanded, the question coming out half snarl, surprising her, she didn’t honestly remember growling like that before, “And where’s my Frecks?”

The last part had come automatically, she hadn’t meant to ask about her dog turned werewolf, it had slipped past her tongue unbidden, even if she had thought it, a small part in the back of her mind restless in concern for him.

“My name is Edward Newgate,” he told her slowly, his voice gravelly and deep, but calm and surprisingly soothing, “I’m the alpha of the Whitebeard Pack, you were brought here when one of our former members Teach, attacked you unbidden. If by Frecks you mean Ace, he is perfectly safe I assure you, as are you.”

“I want to see him,” she half asked half demanded, feeling surprisingly anxious. She wasn’t at all sure what was going on or why she suddenly had the extremely strong inclination to find and stick close to Ace, when she hadn’t seen him until her attack, especially since she’d made him leave in the first place, but it was as if her instincts were screaming at her, telling her she couldn’t really settle until she saw him.

“I’m not too sure that’s a good idea,” he told her carefully, and despite the calm way the words were said, something in her prickled angrily, and suddenly her mind was blank, as the instincts she’d been holding back roared to the surface.

She wasn’t entirely aware of what was happening, only that one minute she’d been staring down the one called Whitebeard and the next she was dashing down the halls on four paws. All around her she could hear shouting, and she could vaguely see people diving out of her way as she ran, but she didn’t care, all she wanted was to get to her Freckles.

The problem of course was going to be finding him. Anxiously she sniffed the air, but since she only vaguely knew what he smelled like, something spicy and masculine, it would’ve been a struggle to recognize it, let alone pick it up with the thousands of other scents assaulting her nose at the moment. She choked on the dizzying array of smells and whined before taking off again, her instincts screaming at her that if she just kept running she’d find him eventually.

Barreling through a doorway she found herself face to face with someone who refused to get out of her way. She crashed straight into him unable to stop once she realized he wasn’t moving, skidding on the slippery wooden flooring and sending the two of them toppling end over end until they hit a wall. 

She whined unhappily, dizzy and confused, and extremely unhappy, growling angrily at the man who’d managed to untangle himself from their pile and was watching her worriedly. However his face sparked a memory in her hazy mind…

_“Oh he’s probably looking for me, that or trying to hunt down the mysterious Alpha who attacked Thatch,” the bearded man told her casually a smirk on his face and a crazed look in his eyes._

It was enough to snap her out of her feral mindset and back into rationality. She immediately stopped growling and looked at the man, the bastard who’d attacked her had told her about. He looked okay for the most part, but there were huge bags under his eyes, as if he hadn’t had a decent night’s rest in ages, and his posture was wary and tired.

As she glanced up at him she finally realized that something was wrong. Sure the man was taller than her, but she shouldn’t have to be looking this far up to meet his gaze. Slowly taking stock of her body with growing dread she realized that it didn’t feel the same, not at all.

She realized that despite the brutal attack her body felt completely healed, which it definitely shouldn’t have been, she knew she had likely been passed out, but it couldn’t have been for that long surely. In addition her eyesight was a bit strange, sharper but also duller in a sense, and it took her a second to realize that while she could see things better, make out details and shadows she never would’ve noticed their colors simply weren’t as vibrant.

Taking a breath she winced again as the many, _many_ smells assaulted her nose, still testing it, she could smell in close proximity to her, a cadre of spices, cooking meat, and frying oils, tinged with just a hint of something sour that seemed to be coming from Thatch, who was eyeing her anxiously still, though he seemed to have relaxed a smidgen when she stopped growling.

Around her things were loud, nearly too loud and she wanted to put her hands over her ears to block some of the sound, but she belatedly realized she didn’t feel like she had hands anymore. Slowly, she looked down to see the place where her hands should be, only to be met by the sight of two furry paws, tipped in sharp looking claws.

A distressed whimper escaped her lips as she carefully lifted her ‘hand’ and instead saw the paw lift. She glanced up at Thatch again, and the blatant disbelief and horror she felt, must’ve been clear on her face, because the wary look on his face had changed to concern.

“(Name?)” he asked his voice low and gentle.

She tried to say ‘yes’ in response, and was completely mortified as a strange affirmative bark left her mouth, which she suddenly realized was shaped all wrong. Those weren’t her teeth! That wasn’t her tongue! What the?

“You’re alright (name),” Thatch assured her his voice still calm and careful, “You’re in a safe place, no one is going to hurt you. You’ve just finished your transformation, and I’ve heard it’s a bit unnerving but you’re fine I promise.”

Transformation? What the hell did he mean transformation? Mulling the words over realization hit with the force of a freight train. He was talking about the Werewolf transformation, the one her Freckles had mentioned to her, the one the man who’d attacked her Teach, had said he was going to force her to have.

She remembered the attack, she remembered the biting, the pain, and longing for her Freckles, where was he? Forcefully she shoved that last irrational thought down, as it seemed to have been the one to make her run wild in the first place, instead focusing on what had happened.

Teach, a Werewolf, had bitten her, and now she was a werewolf too. A part of her wanted to scream and cry and deny even the possibility of such a thing, because werewolves weren’t supposed to _exist_ let alone go around biting innocent people, but she had always been a practical person and it was hard to deny the evidence right in front of her.

That this could be a dream or the result of drugs briefly passed through her thoughts but left just as quickly because even she wouldn’t have dreamed up something this strange or terrible, and despite those strange instincts clamoring in the back of her mind she was feeling clear headed and mostly rational. Plus she’d never touched drugs a day in her life, and in her last memories there was no one around to trick or force her into taking them, so that was obviously out. Because even if she had taken them, or had them forced on her and they’d ruined pieces of her memory, she should at least remember something about it. As it was all she remembered was being attacked by the Werewolf, which only made her theory about being a Werewolf now herself that much more likely.

She whined, low and unhappy because she didn’t want this damnit! Hadn’t ever wanted it, she didn’t want to be a Werewolf! She wanted to be human, _human!_

Her body shifted, and something strange happened, her bones and muscles felt like they were rearranging themselves under her skin. It wasn’t painful but it was extremely discomforting, and she whined again in distress as her vision went blurry for a second, and she stumbled before straightening again.

Only to find that she was tall again, and the whine from her throat had been substantially more human in tone than before. Glancing down at her paws, she was surprised to see her much more familiar human hands at the end of the appendages, and nearly sobbed in relief, that is until her gaze went lower, taking stock of her body to make sure nothing else was out of place, only to realize something.

“Why aren’t I wearing any clothes?!” the words came out half hysterical sob half howl as she immediately covered herself, suddenly very aware of the many people in the hallway, all watching her with variations of shock, and concern on their faces, even as Thatch howled with laughter.

…~oO*Oo~…

Thatch had been in an awful place since he’d woken with his mate Izo hovering anxiously over him. He’d immediately tried to tell his lover everything, about Teach, trying to force his body out of the bed to go get Ace and rescue (Name) before it was too late, only to be told everything was already all over.

(Name) had already been attacked, and was changing into a Werewolf as they spoke but on the bright side Teach was dead. Izo said this with a mixture of satisfaction and discontent and Thatch knew it was likely because while his mate was glad the traitor was dead, he also kind of wished he’d been the one to do it.

However he was anxious for details, and pressed his mate to know what had happened. Luckily as a Division Commander Izo was up-to-date with everything that had happened despite not leaving Thatch’s bedside, and had been more than willing to fill in the details. Both were more than a little awed at (Name’s) resilience and fighting spirit, and worried for both her and Ace.

Thatch however was also feeling guilty, and to top it off every time he closed his eyes he saw Teach attacking, either him, or a defenseless (Name). He couldn’t sleep for the life of him, and was having a hard time thinking of anything but the consequences of Teach’s attacks on their family. He knew he was worrying Izo, with his less than stellar mood as of late, and while he tried he hadn’t been able to muster any of his usual cheer, not when things were hanging so delicately in the balance for their pack.

He’d been taking a walk, in an attempt to get out of his rooms for a while and maybe take solace in his pack brothers and sisters when the shouting reached his ears. He’d quickly realized that (name) had woken from her transformation, and from what he could make out, obviously wasn’t acting very rationally.

Prepared for the worst, he’d stepped into the path of the unfamiliar Were as she bolted down the corridors, knowing that if she was Moon Mad, as the distressed shouting indicated, that she had to be stopped, and that as both Division Commander and one greatly responsible for her condition it was his responsibility to ensure she didn’t damage any of their pack.

However when he’d recovered from the collision and been preparing to take her out if he could, he’d noticed something in her eyes. It certainly hadn’t looked like Moon Madness, in fact it looked like recognition. He’d immediately stayed his hand, and gone with his instincts, hoping, praying that his hunch was correct, because if he was wrong not only would Ace be devastated, but a lot of people including himself stood to be injured.

Laughter on her revelation about not wearing anything had probably not been the right reaction, judging by the fact that she was now glaring at him, those fierce eyes of her making her appear even more intimidating than normal despite the fact that she was blushing so badly her entire face was red. However he’d been too relieved to do anything else, because as appalled as she’d been at her nakedness, it was a definitive sign that she was not, in any way Moon Mad. Moon Mad wolves didn’t give a damn about such trivial matters.

Izo, who had apparently been close behind him, didn’t seem to appreciate his laughter either, though whether that was for his inappropriate reaction, or the fact that he’d stepped into the path of what could have been a deadly encounter without any hesitation whatsoever so soon after his brush with death at the hands of the traitor he didn’t know.

Either way his mate carefully shrugged out of the outer layer of his kimono and passed it to the relieved looking (name) who accepted it with a thankful smile, and then smirked as Izo promptly cuffed him over the head, cutting off his laughter.

“Ah sorry,” he apologized sheepishly, “That wasn’t very nice of me, but (name) what are you doing? Shouldn’t you be in your rooms talking to Oyaji?”

“I was looking for Frecks,” she answered anxiously, “Or at least I think I was? Do you know where he is?”

“And I told you I didn’t think that was a good idea,” Oyaji had apparently arrived, and between him, Thatch and Izo had managed to maneuver things effectively blocking her into the hallway, away from the rest of the pack.

“Why?!” she half demanded half growled, and Thatch could almost see her metaphorical hackles rising. He shared a concerned glance with Izo not at all sure what was going on.

“Because we’re not sure how you’ll react to him,” Whitebeard told her, his voice calm and steady, hands raised in a placating manner.

“You think I’d hurt my Frecks?” she asked a distressed whine slipping past her lips apparently unbidden, not nearly as on guard, “Why?”

“Because he bit you,” their Alpha explained calmly.

“No!” she protested immediately the angry distrustful look back on her face, “No! The Black One bit me, hurt Thatch, bit me here, and here.”

She indicated her neck and her calf, her hand pausing as it found the scar tissue at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. It was pretty obvious that despite not being Moon Mad, she was very instinct driven at the moment. Still he was surprised she even knew that Teach had attacked him as well. Izo and Oyaji looked just as surprised. 

“That’s true, the traitor did bite you, I know he told you he meant to turn you, but after everything Ace bit you too,” their Alpha explained carefully, “He wasn’t trying to hurt or turn you, he was desperate and trying to heal you, and it worked. What he did saved your life, however biting of this kind is generally reserved for between mates, and an Alpha and the subordinate pack members. We’re not sure what it’s done to you or how that would make you react to his presence.”

“Oh,” she looked more than a little lost and Thatch’s heart went out to her, she looked like her whole world was shifting around her and she wasn’t sure where to put her feet to keep her balance. He knew the feeling. After all with Teach’s attack nothing in their pack would ever be the same.

“We have some tests we’d like to try first,” Whitebeard assured her, apparently seeing her distress just as clearly as Thatch was, “But after, so long as nothing is wrong we’ll get Ace for you alright?”

She nodded, and allowed herself to be led back in the direction she’d come from, and without thought Thatch followed on her heels. He wanted to be some sort of support, for her or Ace or even for his Alpha he wasn’t sure. He just wanted to be there, just in case. He had a feeling these next few hours could shape the entire future of the Whitebeard pack, and he was going to make sure he saw it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there it is, the long awaited update, and (Name) is finally a Were! I hope you liked it and sorry it took so long!


End file.
